PARSONS@KSUVM.BITNET (Scott Parish) (12/14/88)
Here is the latest word on Diamond, a graphical user interface for the 8-bits. This was downloaded from GEnie, and I assume that I have permission to do with it as I please as long as it is in original form. My personal opinion is this: read the transcipts of conversations with the programmers (I will be happy to send them to anyone who asks), and wait for a cart-to-cart review (that is possible since both are in cartridge form now.) Both sound good, but the transcripts tell a lot. December 10, 1988 Press Release: Diamond OS SuperCart From: Alan Reeve/Reeve Software Attention Atarians, It has been a little over six months since our first press release for our Diamond OS. Since then a lot has changed. We initially intended to ship Diamond as a disk based product and it was to require at least 64K. In August of 1988 we were contacted by Shelly Merrill of Merrill Ward & Associates. Originally Diamond was going to compete against their product, however, things fell apart with the developer and Shelly has been assisting us with the marketing of Diamond. We elected to unite as I felt that his marketing knowledge could greatly boost the sales of our product, and also create a resurgence of interest in the Atari computer. Shelly has since moved on, formed USA Media, and has been very helpful in the marketing of Diamond. We shipped our disk based version of Diamond at the end of September. It did much of what we said that it would, however we have received many comments and criticisms regarding some areas. The most common complaint was that the disk version functioned solely with Atari DOS 2.0. Since the release of our disk based version of Diamond we have spent the last ten weeks adding to it in order to create our much more powerful cartridge version of Diamond. The cartridge version adds a lot of power over our initial disk version: * Supports two windows on the DeskTop. * Supports Quit to Basic and direct return to the DeskTop. * Supports most DOS types (Atari DOS 2.X, DOS XE, and SpartaDOS). * Supports folders (subdirectories) and time/date stamping. * Windows have sliders, and fullers that support full reversing. * It's on cartridge and consumes minimal system memory to function. * Much more... Diamond is also completely programmable. We initially intended to have a separate Programmer's Kit, however, along with the cartridge will come complete documentation for programming the environment...it can even be programmed in Atari Basic. The disk version was also to have memory drivers and be followed up by many external applications. Due to our continued work on creating such a powerful environment we have delayed the applications until the cartridge was completed. We will now be releasing the applications and they will support the cartridge, however, Diamond Paint and Diamond Write will also include versions that support the 64K disk version. We are now pleased to announce that the cartridge version of Diamond is 100% done and will be shipping very soon as we produce the cartridges. It will first be available to users that wish to upgrade from the 64K disk version, and will then be available in stores nationwide. Please contact us for more information: Contact: REEVE Software 29W150 Old Farm Lane Warrenville, IL 60555 (312) 393-2317 or USA Media 7810 Malcolm Road Clinton, Maryland 20735 (301) 868-5494 GEnie ID: REEVE.SOFT CIS ID: 71521,2200 The separate applications will be arriving shortly as Diamond acts as a very solid foundation for external programs. The first Diamond based program will be Diamond Paint. Diamond Write, News Station, Diamond Publish and more will follow. The first three are almost complete. Lastly, we'd like to thank those of you that have been supportive of our efforts to revitalize the Atari community. I believe that Diamond is the most powerful program written for any 8-bit computer and will lead the Atari 8-bits into the 1990's. We hope that you will join us and Diamond as your Atari 8-bit soars to new heights. Acknowledge-To: <PARSONS@KSUVM>