bh2@doc.ic.ac.uk (B Hogan) (12/21/90)
My first posting to comp.sys.acorn , and it's a biggy. > cbdougla@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Collin Broad Douglas) > I was wondering if anyone had infomation about the ARM chips and the >Acorn computers. They sounds really interesting but I've been unable to get >some really good info (about the OS, hardwar etc.) I've got a general idea >of how well the A310 performs (from a friend) but I'd like more information >such as: >Graphics modes >sound capabilities >OS capabilities (multitasking, GUI, CLI etc) >Are there different versions of the ARM chip? Graphics: On my standard monitor the best screen mode I can get (without interlacing) is 1248x288 with 256 colours from a palette of 4096. This takes around 360K of memory and so is a bit slow, but useable. With a multisync monitor or, if you can stand the flicker, with interlacing, 640x512x256 can be displayed. One of the (many) nice features of the RISC OS desktop is that all applications are mode independent, so I can use whichever is most convenient at the time. My usual is 736x288 in 16 or 256 colours. Sound: 8 bit logarithmic samples with 8 stereo channels (real stereo, not like the Amiga :-) OS: Useses co-operative multi-tasking, ie. if the applications don't cooperate everything stops multi-tasking! Although this has obvious diadvantages a major plus is that it is very efficient - the OS uses very little processor power. The OS, WIMP and all, is in 512K of ROM so there's no wait for things to boot up. GUI: I love the desktop!!! It is easily the best WIMP system I've ever seen. Fast, friendly, powerful, (sorry, I'm getting carried away here), etc. All those wonderful features that are being added to the Mac and Windows 3 are already here. ARM: You can replace the 8Mhz ARM2 with an ARM3 (30Mhz with cache). They are completely compatible. The recent article regarding the synchronisation, or lack of it, between ARM and memory mostly went straight over my head, but I wonder if this feature is why it is so easy to change the processor without affecting the rest of the system? On the subject of upgrading, you can also buy a small (30 quid) upgrade that increases the speed of VIDC and gives you even higher resolution modes than those above. That's Acorn's PR job done, now onto other stuff... Please can we sort out this silly argument over the posting of binaries. The total lack since this started is a bit depressing. The complaints only started when someone posted half a meg of fonts. Provided this doesn't happen again is anyone particularly bothered? Regarding the obove mentioned fonts, does anyone know how to fix them? I've changed all the internal names so they cache correctly but all programs seem to think the characters are about 3 times their actual size so you get an enormous cursor and massive gaps between lines. And now, wait for it, Games! (shock, horror). A small pat on the back for 4th Dimension for supplying Chocks Away Mk2 as a free upgrade. It's now much faster and smoother, so forget all the comments in the reviews about the update being a bit slow. That's all folks (who said 'What a relief'?). Bryan H.