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>