NewsPhile

[NEWS]

AtariPhile/FFF - Our own news
Goodman International - Atari Reference Guide and Show Report
Calamus SL - News from Germany
Atari Corp building- New tenant
Floppyshop- Announce PhotoScan service
Phoenix- An Atari clone from France
System Solutions- Ooodles of news!
Titan Design/BSS/Gribnif- More exciting news

<A NAME = 1>

AtariPhile/FFF

The Falcon FacTT File has been run for three years by Kev Beardsworth and Colin Fisher-McAllum as a hobby. The membership listing, 42BBS and our new magazine, AtariPhile, is proving to be a too heavy task for us to bare. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that Domhnall Dods, a long standing contributor and FFF member, has joined us a co-organiser.

Also, following consultation with many of our active members, we have decided to drop the membership listing and therefore end our user group status. This way we can concentrate on AtariPhile and 42BBS. We will not change our name, the FFF will act like a publishing house.

There are a growing number of very active Atari user groups around the UK, that hold regular meetings and produce newsletters. We suggest you contact Harry Sideras of the UK Association of Atari User Groups for information on your nearest group. Send a DD disk and SAE to: UKAAUG, 49 Haywood Rd, Tile Cross, Birmingham B33 OLJ. EMail: sidcelery@cix.compulink.co.uk

We will continue to publish AtariPhile and run 42BBS for some time to come and offer our wholehearted encouragement to all Atari support organisations.

Thanks to Frank Charlton and Netkonect, this copy of AtariPhile, and previous issues can now be downloaded from our new FTP site.

It seems direct connection is not possible, but this method works...

ftp ftp.netkonect.co.uk

Log in as ftp or anonymous and use your email address as your password. Now change to the correct directory as per below:-

cd /pup/atari/atariphile/

followed by

dir

to display the directory.

The file you require will be APHILE01.LZH, APHILE02.LZH, APHILE03.LZH, or APHILE03.LZH. So just type:

get aphile04.lzh

to download the appropriate file.

You may have noticed this method is the same as Steve from Floppyshop has used in his press release... I pinched your text, Steve, hope you don't mind :-)

You may recall that in AtariPhile #2 we said we couldn't get E-Copy to work in the background under MagiC. At the time, even following the advice from System Solutions it wouldn't work on my Falcon. Well, we now know it can...

Place a copy of FLOCK_OK.PRG in your APPS folder [you may call it your START folder] and do not use FFSEL.PRG [the Freedom 1 auto program] in your Auto folder. To be honest, I'd much rather keep Freedon than gain background copying, it works and the choice is yours.

<A NAME = 2>

Goodman News - Show Report

The Atari Reference Guide

Mike Goodman is in the process of launching "<B>The Atari Reference Guide</B> to public domain and shareware". The completed guide will run to about 80 to 100 A4 loose-leaf pages pre-drilled with four holes ready to store in your own folder. Costing just £2.95 +pp, it is expected to be complete by the end of this year. Subscribers to Goodman International will receive update pages about every six to eight weeks. I have seen the first 40 pages an it's looking very good indeed. Plenty of graphics and each program is given a very full description. In fact, most file descriptions are like mini reviews. Each of the planned eight section will eventually have card dividers and a complete alphabetical index. The title of this project is not to be taken lightly. For anyone with an interest in PD/Shareware, this truely is the "Atari Reference Guide". Commercial products supported by Goodmans will be in a special "Yellow Pages" section and if space permits there will be sections for other companies to advertise too. <P> Each disk from Goodman's is still only £1.50 plus UK pp of £1.25 on all orders [total value] under £19 or £2,50 on all orders over £19

To receive more information on the guide and subscription details you can send a stamped addressed envelope to: Goodman's, 16 Conrad Close, Meir Hay Estate, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, ST3 1SW. Phone 01782-335650 Fax 01782-31612.

Mike said, "There will be more shows"

When COMPO UK closed along with Atari World, little did we know, that when Mike Goodman decided to stage two Atari shows, a new magazine would be launched.

The fact that the shows were in planning spurred A|C|G into pushing ahead with their plans to publish a magazine. Without the shows there would have been no target launch date and thing may well have taken a different path.

So, Atari Computing was launched by the publisher, Mike Kerslake, and Editor, Joe Connor, at the Birmingham show last September. Unfortunately neither of them could make it to the London show but other members of the A|C|G team ably manned the stand. The response was so good that they soon sold out of magazines on both days. It was a good job they held some copies back for London or there may have been riots. Plenty of subscription forms were completed and buoyed with success they decided to run a re-print of issue 1.

Star of the shows they may have been, but there were plenty of excellent supporting acts. All the usual Atari retailers and developers where there the big shock was the range of new and updated products that were available to buy.

Mike Goodman launched Destruction Imminent, a new game for the ST/STe. David Encill was demonstrating a very early version of APEX Alpha. HiSoft shocked us all by having Papyrus 4 for sale as an upgrade or complete. Steve Delaney of Floppyshop had made the trip all the way from Aberdeen to sell the long awaited Positive Image. System Solutions had two major upgradable products. MagiC 5 could be bought or ordered as an upgrade. HDDriver had shot up to v6. Texel and MagiC PC were being demonstrated as was Infopedia, the DTP Graphics CDs and the Ultimate Cubase CD. Karl Brandt was bubbling with enthusiasm while demonstrating their new image processing package, Photoline [we hope to have a review in AP#5 - Ed] on his bright new TOS based super machine Hades. High end users should contact System Solutions for details and to arrange a demonstration. I was gob-smacked at the processing power of this computer. [Who knows, we may talk Karl into giving AtariPhile a Hades to review - watch for AP#5 - Colin may have a big grin on his face - Ed]. 16/32 were there with a massive range of Atari compatible CD and a huge array of games [Dino Dudes should be reviewed in AP#5 - Ed]. Although Steve Delaney had come a long distance, all the way from the 'US of A' was Brad Koda of Best Electronics with his usual array of Atari goodies. [I managed to buy a long keyboard cable for my Mega ST keyboard at last - Ed]

After the London show, Colin chatted to Mike Goodman who was very pleased with the turnout on both days. Tired as he was, he confirmed that he will be doing it all again next April. Maybe even a third show... in Glasgow. We at AtariPhile feel Mike deserves three rousing cheers for staging these shows at a time when most Atari users were thinking the Atari scene was dead. They were wrong, Mike was right.

Calamus SL news - from Germany

A new version of Calamus SL is due to be released in the near future by DMC in Germany. JCA having dropped the product, the Atari flagship DTP program is currently without a UK distributor. Watch this space however as negotiations are currently underway with a prospective new distributor. Having handed over development of Calamus to the Canadian software house MGI as long ago as 1994, DMC appeared to have ceased work on Calamus SL. However at the start of 1996 DMC began a thorough and well thought out overhaul of Calamus SL with the aim of producing an update at the end of the Summer. The upgrade promises to be the most significant upgrade to Calamus in a number of years with new features and not just cosmetic changes.

Unlike previous upgrades there will now be only one version of SL which will be equally at home running under TOS, Magic or Power Macs. Support for long file names as found in Windows 95 is promised as is an up to date re-design of the user interface to bring SL into line with the Win 95 version. This will include a moveable menu bar giving direct access to currently loaded modules, dialogues in windows and pop up menus. Numerous small changes are promised which will give even greater flexibility. We shall of course bring you further details and a review as soon as possible.

<A NAME = 4>

Atari Corp home re-settled

Not that we needed it, but just to prove that Atari Corp have gone, Frank Charlton came accress this on the internet...

"SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Glenayre Western Multiplex, the leading manufacturer of T1/E1 spread spectrum wireless interconnect radios, will officially join the Silicon Valley business community on Monday, Nov. 4, 1996, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to be attended by Sunnyvale civic leaders and all Glenayre Western Multiplex employees.

Sunnyvale Mayor Robin Parker and members of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce -- including President Cole Bridges -- will welcome Glenayre Western Multiplex to their new home, located on Borregas Avenue near highways 237 and 101, in the building formerly occupied by the Atari Corporation."

Floppyshop news

STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS

Christmas Special - December ONLY

Positive Image for sale at £49 - but only for orders placed in December 1996. On January 1st 1997, it will be on sale for it's new regular paice of £65. All prices are plus P&P (UK £2 - Europe £5 - Other £10)

STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS-STOP-PRESS

Floppyshop are pleased to announce <B>PhotoScan</B>, a low cost photographic digitising service for those of you who do not have CD-ROM drives and are therefore unable to make use of Kodak's PhotoCD technology. PhotoScan was originally intended solely as a service to Positive Image users who did not have scanning facilities. However, we recognised that Atari owners have a need for this type of service in other areas including Desktop Publishing, and of course everyone wants to make up slideshows featuring their favourite holiday snaps.

All you have to do is send us your snaps (along with the appropriate fee) and we'll put copies of them onto floppy disks in both 256 colour and True Colour formats. Be warned, a full size 6"x4" print saved as a 256 colour image requires 528K of free RAM to reload and a True Colour JPEG of the same image will require 1.55 Mb of RAM when decompressed. For this reason, you will need at least 1 Mb of RAM in order to use the 256 colour image and at least 2 Mb for the True Colour one. In most cases, the 256 colour images are almost indistinguishable from their True Colour counterparts, use them and save memory. All scans are created using professional scanning equipment and calibrated using Kodak's proprietary high precision colour match software.

ST owners should not be put off by the mention of 256 colour images. GIF images can be viewed on an ordinary ST/STe in full colour using either Speed Of Light or PhotoChrome, two Shareware packages available from Floppyshop. In addition, the images can be easily converted (including resizing and colour reduction if necessary) to any other format you require using such packages as GEM-View, Look 'N' See, Bitmap View and a host of other Shareware file conversion tools, all of which are available from Floppyshop.

<B>Ordering Information</B><BR>

  1. Maximum size of photograph is 6"x4" (but see 9 below).

  1. If your photographs are particularly valuable we suggest that you send them to us by registered post. If you want your goods returned by registered post, this will be charged at cost (see below) and is in addition to the stated P&P.

  1. This is a digitising service not a photo retouching one! The disk images you receive back will be a close match to the print you sent us (blemishes and all!).

  1. All material sent to us for scanning must be your own work or you must enclose written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce his/her work. We will not scan material taken from books, magazines or indeed any material protected by copyright law. If you use our service you agree to indemnify Floppyshop against any claims arising from breach of copyright as a result of us duplicating any material on your behalf.

  1. We cannot digitise images from negatives or transparencies, only prints.

  1. Your photographs may be colour or black and white. In the case of black and white prints, the disk images will be saved as greyscales. If your photograph is in colour but you prefer a greyscale scan (eg; for use in a DTP package) you can request this as an alternative to colour.

  1. 256 colour images will be supplied in GIF format unless you specifically request otherwise. The alternatives on offer are TIF or PNG. There is no choice for True Colour images, these can only be output as JPEG due to their sheer size.

  1. Please ensure that you send your photographs to us in appropriate packaging designed to protect them in transit (hard backed A5 size envelopes are recommended for this purpose). We can take no responsibility for goods lost or damaged in the post on their way to us. It is your responsibility to ensure that your photographs reach us in good condition.

  1. If you need larger photographs scanned or particularly high resolution scans for professional reproduction work, we can handle up to A4 size at up to 1200 dpi but the files will be massive and you will have to send us a formatted EZ-135 cartridge to put them on! We will need to discuss your exact requirements in these cases and will give you a quote before commencing work. If you require this service please email Steve Delaney (sdelaney@steil.wintermute.co.uk) or call 01224 586208 Tues, Wed or Thurs between 9am and 4pm.

  1. We have a demo disk available which illustrates the sort of quality (dependent on the quality of your photograph of course!) you should expect from our service. Just order the PhotoScan demo disk. It costs œ1 and is available in DS and HD formats. Please state which disk format is required.

<B>Pricing</B><BR>

Due to the setup time involved we regret that we cannot handle orders for less than three scans. The charge per scan (up to 6"x4") is £2.50. There is a fixed P&P charge (£1.25 UK, £2.25 Europe, £3.00 rest of world) per order regardless of order size. If you wish your goods to be returned by registered post, please add the registration fee (currently £2.70 in the UK, overseas customers contact us first if not paying by credit card) onto the above. Please note that the P&P charge is in addition to that for any software ordered at the same time as photographic orders are despatched separately. Usual turnaround on PhotoScan orders is 7-10 days.

<B>Disclaimer</B><BR>

Although every care will be taken with your photographs, we can accept no liability for loss or damage to your property however caused. Our liability is strictly limited to the cost of your order. Receipt of your photographs by us for digitising implies your acceptance of this disclaimer.

<B>Placing Your Order</B><BR>

All orders should be sent to Floppyshop, PO Box 273, Aberdeen, AB15 8GJ, Scotland, U.K. and cheques/PO's should be made payable to Floppyshop. Credit card payment welcome. If you require further information, contact Steve Delaney (sdelaney@steil.wintermute.co.uk).

<EM>Stop-press - more news late in...</EM>

Since I put out my original press release regarding <B>PhotoScan</B> I am pleased to announce that we now have the capability to digitise from slides and negatives as well as prints. Slides gives the best results as far as quality is concerned although you'd be surprised just how good ordinary prints come out.

So you want to see the quality of the images before you part with your cash and it's too much hassle sending in for the demo disk. No problem, the demo disks are also available by ftp from Wintermute. Here's how to get them:-

ftp ftp.wintermute.co.uk

Log in as ftp or anonymous and use your email address as your password. Now change to the correct directory as per below:-

cd /home/s/steil/outgoing/

followed by dir to display the directory.

The file you require will be foto_st.zip or foto_030.zip as appropriate.

Just type:

get foto_st.zip

or

get foto_030.zip

to download the appropriate file.

** You can also download them directly from our Web site by selecting the option to download the Positive Image demo from the title page. This opens up the directory which contains all Floppyshop downloadable software. The url address is:

http://www.netkonect.net/flopshop/

Regards, Steve

Phoenix - An Atari clone from France

<EM>Here is an email we received...</EM> [Is "Phenix" French for Phoenix? - Ed]

Hello,

A little word from a french Falcon030 owner... :-)

The reason why I write you is that I currently get in touch several foreign Atari distributors and users to give them information about a brand new project close related to the Atari market. This project, called 'Cent40' was started by a well-known company (well-known... in France ! ;-) ) called Centek, and its aim is the design of a new computer, based on a new Operating System : here are the technical specs...

PHENIX

Nice, isn't it ? This machine is like a Falcon, but without all the bottlenecks which were slowing down everything in it. Even the faster chip of the Falcon (DSP) is literally a snail, compared with the Phenix's one...

Falcon 030        Phenix            Notes
16 bits bus       32 bits bus       2 times wider.
16 Mhz bus        33 Mhz bus        2 times faster.
16 Mhz 030        66 Mhz 040        At least 4 times faster
32 Mhz 56001      66 Mhz 56302      At least 4 times faster
2 cycle > 1 inst. 1 cycle > 1 inst.
Non-DMA DSP       DMA DSP           The CPU is not forced anymore to
                                    feed  up the DSP through the Host
                                    port,  as  it  can access the RAM
                                    alone,  to  load  its  data  and
                                    code...
Video access      DMA video access  The RAM is more available for
made on the       made by the gfx   useful tasks...
ST-RAM            board.
No 3D-dedicated   Matrox Mystique   Mapping, gouraud shading,
hardware          Matrox Millennium z-buffering3D in 640 x 480 x 65K
                                    colours at 30 fps rate...

Shortly : the faster CPU won't have t worry about feeding the faster 56001 compatible DSP, which will use its brand new DMA capabilities to transfer data and code from/toward the faster RAM... The DMA channels of the 56302 are making it really usable for 'serious applications', like raytracing, as the 56001 RAM was too slow to contain this kind of application's large routines. The 683xx controller can also be used as a super 32 bits DMA Blitter...

Now, the Operating System : Dolmen !
Currently under development, it is a new multitasking OS, which will be stored on the computer's hard-disk. The great advantage of this : it can (and will !) be updated easily and on a regular basis. You won't have to load hundreds of patches at the boot to fix bugs of the in-ROM OS... The reason why Centek's developers wanted to develop another OS from scratch is that they wanted it to be perfectly designed for the machine, not simply adapted, like the modified TOS on the Hades, or MagiC!, which is really unstable...

Some details :

Moreover, the developers are very open minded to suggestions about what shall be Dolmen so, if you have ideas you'd like to communicate, they'll be happy to take note of it, and to implement it, if they find it interesting. I often speak with them, and they really seem to be competent...

This is for the future...

Now about the present, Centek has already designed some products for Atari computers :

As you can see, Centek is a very active company !

Knowing them, I know they really want to break with the Atari misbehaviour : they really want to support developers in their projects, sending them every documentation about the machine, and so on... Centek likes developers, and they want them to like Centek !

As Centek is looking for motivated people, to distribute their products in foreign countries, to make current software compatible with the Phenix, and of course to design new software using all the technical capacities of the machine, we'd like you to give us feedback about what you think of the Phenix Project. If you're interested in distributing the machine in your country, tell us ! If you're a developer with a solid project you'd like to run on the Phenix, tell us ! If you have interesting addresses for the project, tell us ! If you have questions, ask us !!

        Centek                         LOSSOUARN Yann
        28, rue des Sorbiers           Kernanvez
        60290 LAIGNEVILLE              29270 PLOUNEVEZEL
                   FRANCE                         FRANCE

        Tel / Fax : 03 44 71 55 04     Tel : 02 98 93 11 71

   If you want to use email to answer, just use the following :

   yann.lossouarn@uhb.fr

Don't be surprised if you don't receive an answer immediatly, as I don't check my mail every week...

If using email : perhaps there will be a Centek / Phenix mailing list, in a near future. If you're interested in being automatically informed when (if) creating the list, please tell us, as this will sure be the easiest and fastest way to get information about the project...

Now, I've got to leave you, hoping you'll be interested in the Phenix Project... :)

System Solutions

<Font size=6>System Solutions are very pleased to announce the availability, or near availability of a whole swathe of new or updated products for your Atari! A broad range of hardware and software is covered, whether it's super-fast TOS compatible computers, operating system upgrades or application software. Whatever your own personal computer interests there's sure to be a lot in here to pique your curiosity.

But first, System Solutions would like to thank everyone who came along to the recent Atari shows in the UK and made it such a blinding success for everyone involved. It was great to meet such a lot of you in the flesh and chat about all things Atari. There was an unmistakable air of optimism in the air, too - which was as refreshing as it was welcome.

So thanks to all who came - we hope to see you next year!

<B>Hades 040/060</B><BR>

The Hades 040/060 is the fastest TOS based computer on the face of the earth. Available in both 68040 and 68060 flavours, the Hades features a vast array of ports and interfaces that can take an overwhelming selection of input and output devices. Speed, adaptability and compatibility are the Hades three great virtues.

The Hades is the first TOS compatible computer to possess 4 PCI slots, PCI being a exceptionally fast bus which enables input and output of data to and from devices, like graphics cards and SCSI ports. This means super-fast access to all of your peripherals.

How ever, whilst building the fastest TOS computer ever, the designers have kept TOS/GEM compatibility very much in mind. The Hades features a VME bus, for example, and MIDI, modem, LAN, printer ports, etc. - everything you'd expect on a standard Atari (with the exception of a cartridge slot). The memory is another case in point. Although you can install up to 1 Gigabyte (yes, really!) every single byte is seen by the operating system (a modified TOS 3.06) as ST RAM - albeit, running at TT RAM speed!

In pure speed terms, the 060 model is equivalent to a 200MHz Pentium! A truly professional system for the most demanding of customers, please talk to our sales staff about made-to-measure systems and availability.

Technical Specs.

Internal:
4x PCI Bus
2x ISA Bus
1x VME Bus
1x EIDE (enhanced IDE) with a maximum 10MB/s for two devices.
1x SCSI with a maximum 4MB/s for 1-7 devices (TT compatible)

External:
Modem 1 (25pol. Dsub connection) with a maximum 19,200 baud.
Modem 2 (9pol Dsub connection) with a maximum 250,000 baud.
Local talk (8pol. MiniDin) with a maximum 250,000 baud.
Printer (25 pol. Dsub - Falcon/TT compatible)
Midi In/Out
PC Keyboard connection (standard)
Mouse and Joystick (Atari compatible)

Prices: 
Hades 040 64Mhz/4MB/1000IDE/PCI ET4000 - £1995 inc. VAT
Hades 060 50Mhz/4MB/1000IDE/PCI ET4000 - £2395 inc. VAT

<B>MagiC 5</B><BR>

If you haven't heard of <A HREF="mt.htm">MagiC</A> yet you must have been living in a monastery for the past few years! MagiC is a powerful, optimised multitasking operating system that completely replaces TOS and GEM. It includes it's own multitasking friendly desktop, MagiCDesk, although you are still able to use old favourites like Ease.

Although MagiC is a full replacement for TOS/GEM it is a simple software upgrade, which comes with it's own easy-to-use installation program. And because it replaces your old operating system entirely it removes a welter of annoying bugs whilst speeding up all areas of your system. The graphics display, comms port, printer port and disk access all run faster under MagiC!

If you're upgrading from v2 you are in for a shock! MagiC 5 is completely revamped, with Falcon support, a 3D look to your desktop and programs, full support for extended colour modes, lots of extra speed, enhanced compatibility for your programs and lots, lots more.

Owners of version 4 will find all the speed and compatibility that they are already used to. In addition, version 5 offers long filename support, multithreading, an improved desktop and file selector, support for up to 128 concurrent programs and windows and compatibility with DOS hard disk partitions.

This really is one of those programs that should be on the "must have" list of all Atari computer owners.

<B>MagiC PC</B><BR> To complement Magic 5 and MagiCMac, we are now proud to present MagiC PC - the World's best operating system now available on IBM PCs running Windows 95. MagiC is a TOS/GEM compatible multitasking operating system, which under Windows emulates 68000 code on the Intel, or compatible, processor. In short - it enables you to run Atari software on your PC.

It offers speedy multitasking, superb compatibility, long-filename support and all the other benefits our customers have come to expect from MagiC over the years.

If you have HD Driver is also enables you to use your SCSI drives to the full, allowing access to DOS compatible partitions and partitions on the ASCI port of above 1GB!

So if you've bought a PC, or circumstances have dictated that you need to change platforms, there's no reason why you can't still use your carefully - and expensively - assembled Atari software collection. The package includes the powerful Ease desktop.

<B>NVDI 4 for MagiC PC</B><BR>

What better to complement MagiC PC than NVDI? The ultimate system enhancement is available now for MagiC PC.

This special edition, written specifically for MagiC PC, uses Intel-native code to speed up screen redraws by a remarkable amount (see GemBench statistics, below).

But pure graphics speed isn't the be-all and end-all of NVDI. It offers a range of system enhancements, which make working with application software much easier. Indeed, many applications now require NVDI to be installed for much of their functionality or to extend the functionality.

NVDI PC will:-

GemBench Results
These GemBench results compare MagiC PC + NVDI 4 for MagiC PC in an extended 1152896256 colour resolution with a standard Atari Falcon running in 640480monochrome mode. As you can see, the display is some five times faster, whilst the emulated CPU is running at almost 2.5 times the speed of the Falcon's real 68030.

GEM Bench v4.00 1           « Ofir Gal 05 Sep 94
============================================
STE  TOS 2.00
AES v3.99
GEMDOS v0.25
MiNT not present
Blitter Disabled
NVDI 4.11 present
Video Mode: 1152*896*256
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Ref: F030, 640*480*2
P133/1152*868*256
============================================
GEM Dialog Box:             0.360    972%
VDI Text:                   1.135    299%
VDI Text Effects:           1.700    440%
VDI Small Text:             0.955    392%
VDI Graphics:               1.460    597%
GEM Window:                 1.265    110%
Integer Division:           1.015    304%
Float Math:                 3.555    150%
RAM Access:                 0.995    221%
ROM Access:                 0.805    260%
Blitting:                   0.060   1866%
VDI Scroll:                 0.645    409%
Justified Text:             3.165    103%
VDI Enquire:                0.295    528%
New Dialogs:                1.080    400%
============================================
Graphics:                            556%
CPU:                                 233%
Average:                             470%

<B>HD Driver 6</B><BR>

HD Driver, now at version 6, has become the de facto standard for hard disk driving on the Atari over the past few years. Why? Because of the speed, configurability and compatibility of the software, all of which are superb and far above those offered by other packages.

If you're an owner of a previous version of HD Driver then you'll be glad to know that a range of inexpensive upgrade options are available

With the advent of version 6 we find a much re-worked interface, easier to use and more intelligently grouped functions. There is now a highly configurable disk formatting mode - including support for media with different physical sector sizes, like magno-optical drives. The partitioning has also seen a revamp, enabling you to create DOS/Atari compatible partitions, delete individual partitions, repair partitions, etc. In addition there's a new Auto Configuration option, which automatically tells the driver which devices are connected to your computer.

If you're upgrading from an earlier version of HD Driver there are even more new features to look for. The list is huge, far too big to list completely here, but here are just a few:-

<B>Papyrus 4</B><BR>

After what seems an age, <A HREF="papy4.htm">Papyrus 4</A>, the superb word-processing package, is now with us - and we think you'll agree it's been worth the wait. Almost re-written from scratch, this release builds on the fluid, most useable of interfaces to give a better look and even more functionality. The re-write has enabled the author to optimise the code further, providing greater speed and compatibility. You know that every keeps on mentioning "well written GEM programs" with regard to new operating systems? Well Papyrus is that program!

This version of Papyrus is also the first to offer full colour support, in any resolution and colour mode. This includes colour output - just in time to serve the needs of the new army of affordable, high quality, colour printer owners. To complement this new Technicolor dawn Hisoft have added their own EFMS system to Papyrus, enabling your to load in a wide range of graphics formats. They include IMG, GIF, TIFF, JPEG and Targa.

A number of annoying limitations have been removed - for example, there is now no (workable) limit to the number of vector fonts Papyrus can use. It is also much better, and faster, at handling long documents and the search speed has been greatly improved.

In addition, all copies of Papyrus 4, including upgrades, come with a CD packed with 500 TrueType fonts. Far from being low standard public domain - or worse, incomplete shareware! - these fonts come directly from the BitStream type foundry and are of the highest quality.

This is only a taster of what's available in the new version of Papyrus. Whether you want a new word-processor or are upgrading, you will not be disappointed.

<B>The Ultimate Cubase CD-ROM</B><BR>

What has 605 MBs of information, spread across 400 drum loops, 1200 samples, 400 MIDI files and much, much more? Simple. The Ultimate Cubase CD-ROM.

This awesome CD-ROM is packed with useful files for any musician, but its specially tailored to be the ultimate companion for Cubase - on any platform. All the loops, samples and MIDI files are of professional quality, covering a vast range of musical styles and tastes.

The loop and samples are available in the standard AIFF format, ideal for Cubase Audio and the MIDI files are all GM compatible. In addition there are mixer maps, device drivers and a whole host of other useful files.

And it doesnt end there. The CD-ROM also contains utility software for the Atari, Macintosh and IBM PC. Everything from patch editors to sample librarians to audio calculators is included to make the Cubase musicians life easier.

The Ultimate Cubase CD-ROM is available now for £69.95 inc. VAT.

<B>Bird of Prey CD-ROM</B><BR>

The ardour of Falcon enthusiasts never ceases to amaze us. The Bird of Prey CD-ROM was put together by two such people, Matt Norcross and Scott McConnell and is a superb collection of programs and files for the Atari Falcon. Made to complement, rather than compete with, other Falcon CD- ROMs (Transmission, etc.) it focuses almost entirely on applications and only has a few fillers, like MOD files and graphics.

As well as being Falcon enthusiasts, Matt and Scott use the Falcon to the full in their work - they front a band called Any Questions? and are owners of the Floating Fish Studios, which mainly deal with Industrial bands. In short, they are almost uniquely qualified to make up a CD-ROM disk of this nature.

Well leave the rest of this to the well-written sleeve notes:

"This CD ROM contains what we at Floating Fish Studios consider to be the very best public domain and shareware software available for the Atari (and C-LAB) Falcon030 today. You have at your fingertips, "the ultimate Falcon collection!" These files have been collected from around the world and are now assembled, for you, on this one CD ROM."

"The Floating Fish Studios 'Bird of Prey' CD ROM is the ultimate Falcon collection."

"This disc is filled with software that no Falcon user should be without. Over 649MB of pure excitement waiting to be unleashed! Over 21,000 files!"

The Bird of Prey CD-ROM is available now for the stunning price of £24.95 inc. VAT.

<B>Art Nouveau CD-ROM</B><BR>

This disk is a real treat for designers - dealing as it does with the extraordinary period in art and design covering the early half of the 20th century known as Art Nouveau. Its release in the UK coincides neatly with the renewed interest in Charles Rennie Mackintosh, seminal artist and designer - his most noted work being the design of the Glasgow School of Art.

The Art Nouveau CD-ROM includes a wide range of graphics covering the following themes: initials, borders, ornaments, vignettes, flowers, etc. In addition it contains 8 high quality fonts in Calamus, Postscript and TrueType format. The graphics themselves cover and equally broad range of formats: Calamus Vector Graphic, Encapsulated Postscript, Windows Metafile Format and Corel Draw.

There are over 400 images on the disk, which comes with a handy catalogue, making finding the right image easy. All-in-all this is a totally unique disk, which should be in every designers collection.

The price is a reasonable £39.95 inc. VAT

<B>Xware DTP Graphics 1, 2, 3</B><BR>

CD-ROM disks of clipart for desktop publishing and other graphical work are hardly new. There are literally hundreds of clipart disks available covering a wide range of subject matter. So what makes our new collection of disks from Xware special?

For that matter, what makes any clipart disk special? We suggest that its a range of key features including: subject matter, quality of the clipart, format of the clipart and - theres no escaping it - the price. We feel that these disks are almost unique in that they score highly on each of those points.

The subject matter depends on the specific disk. Each is slanted in a slightly different direction whilst retaining a central core of the staple diet of borders, ornaments, food, drink and incidental clips that are the designers meat and mead. Disk 1, for example, also includes Heraldic clipart, number 2 has cars and coupons and number 3 music and nature - all amongst a wide range of other material.

The quality of the artwork offered here is amazingly high. The clips are available in either/or bitmap and vector format (as appropriate for the artwork) and obvious care has been taken over the quality of the graphics. Equal care has been taken to cater for designers on all platforms. Bitmap formats used are TIF, IMG and PCX, whilst vector formats are EPS, CVG, GEM and CDR. Youd need to be a very strange designer indeed to not have immediate access to at least some of those in your graphics/DTP package!

Each CD-ROM disk includes a 100+ page catalogue, which lists each and every image for easy searching. This is included in the price of £29.95 inc. VAT for each disk, or a bundle price of £79.95 inc. VAT for all three.

<B>Falcon 030 can write 4x speed CD-ROMS!</B><BR>

Whether it's files, programs or audio information, there's no better way to store your valuable data than on CD-ROM disks. Until recently the cost of CD Recorders was prohibitively expensive to all but a few bureaux but over the past few months the prices have tumbled and now any computer owner can consider owning one of these awesome devices.

System Solutions are one of those rare companies with a foot in both the traditional computer camp and the MIDI and digital music camp. They are in the perfect position to help you decide upon your CD Recording needs - and then to support you with their esteemed after-sales service - whatever your requirements.

System Solutions only use industry standard CD-recording devices in their cased, ready-to-run packages. The CDR24e package (2x speed write, 4x read), is £649 plus VAT. The CDR44e (4x speed write and read), is £959 plus VAT. Both packages are ready for immediate use, and include software, manual and all the required leads.

The included software is CD Recorder Pro, separately available for £251 plus VAT. This is an excellent program which covers all possible CD recording requirements. It can write multi-session CD-ROMs in ISO9660 or High Sierra formats and can write mixed-mode or standalone Audio CD. The latter format is entirely red Book compatible

<B>Texel Spreadsheet - for any Atari!</B><BR>

Can you remember when a new spreadsheet was last released for the Atari? Well, we dont have a definite date but suffice to say that TOS was somewhere around version 1.4! Until now, that is. For System Solutions have a brand spanking new application, called Texel, which looks like itll be a "must buy" for any Atari owner with spreadsheet requirements.

Texel is in the classic modern GEM style (think Papyrus, Twist, Kandinsky, etc.), taking advantage of any vector font, GDOS printing or multi-tasking systems you may have installed. However, its just as happy working on any bog- standard Atari ST with 1MB of memory or more.

You can reference cells in any number of different ways, apply a huge variety of functions and recalculate on the fly with Texel. Cells can have different colours, fonts and styles applied to them. You can have multiple spreadsheets open at the same time. And you can zoom in and out of them.

Everything is just so easy to use thanks to the highly polished interface. Take the function manager, a beauty this, where you can create any function - however complicated - simply and quickly with the mouse. You can even refer to cells by clicking on them on the spreadsheet - without losing focus on the function manager dialog box!

The price is £69.95 inc. VAT.

Titan Design/BSS/Gribnif

This press release comprises information from both Black Scorpion Software and Titan Designs, detailing many new advancements for the Nemesis system accelerator and Afterburner040. In addition Dan Wilga of Gribnif Software has just announced a significant price reduction for Arabesque Pro, and Titan Designs are also reducing the price of the Geneva/NeoDesk 4 bundle.

All prices include VAT @ 17.5%.

BLACK SCORPION SOFTWARE</font

<B>Nemesis - Video enhancement as standard!</B><BR> Following tests performed on Nemesis, we have been able to achieve some incredible true-colour video resolutions with Nemesis running at 24/48MHz.

This is only possible due to the massive 50% increase on the Falcon bus to 24MHz. Running Nemesis at 20/40MHz does produce lower figures, although 576x432 @ 60Hz refresh is still possible.

Falcon with Nemesis at 24/48MHz - all are non-interlaced resolutions, 16-bit (65,536 colours per screen) on a standard 14" VGA non-multisync!

With a half-decent multi-sync it can be expected that even higher resolutions can be seen!

                 CPU          Video  Refresh
                 Bus    CPU    Bus    (Hz)
640x480          24     24     24      60
720x528          24     24     24      50

576x432          20     20     20      60
</PRE>




In addition you would also benefit from 48MHz (or 40MHz depending on
the Nemesis settings) acceleration to FPU and DSP chips.




Primarily these tests were performed to check the outer resolution
limits when using APEX Alpha (APEX 3). The software which has been
developed (see the news on 'Videlity' below) to achieve these
resolutions is expected to become commercially available in due
course, and will have the capability to alter screen resolutions for
any number of bit-planes (mono to true-colour inclusive).




<B>Nemesis - Reliable, consistent 24MHz system speed!</B><BR>


While even standard Falcons can be unreliable with DMA transfer,
further tests with Nemesis have revealed that a 24MHz bus can be
achieved, reliably and consistently, without any problems of this
nature.




Having a regular 24MHz bus is increasingly important if the user
wishes to use the higher resolutions (720x528 true-colour) that only
Nemesis can give!




Nemesis - Totally 'crackle-free' 50KHz playback!

Another advantage of having reliable DMA has been totally clean 50KHz sound playback. To the best of our knowledge, no other accelerator can claim to have a 24MHz system speed, reliable DMA or clean 50KHz playback.


Nemesis - Major APEX MEDIA enhancement

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water...


APEX Media has been updated yet again. Now it is possible to have a full 640x480 TRUE-COLOUR screen display when used with Nemesis at 24/48MHz!


Although a slow-down in performance would normally be expected at this resolution, we have found that the speed is comparable (if not better) than with APEX Media at 640x480, 256-colour! Again, the Nemesis 24MHz system speed is responsible for counter-acting the expected decrease in performance one would expect with high-res. true-colour.


Although the increase in screen size means a large chunk of memory is now consumed, the full 640x480, true-colour resolution is still perfectly possible on a "Nemesised" 4MB Falcon, although (obviously!) animations become restricted.


VIDELITY - Superb resolution enhancement software


<A HREF="bss.htm">Videlity</A> was originally developed to support
APEX Alpha for creating high resolution displays, and will therefore
be supplied with this program to form part of the complete
software/hardware suite - APEX Alpha, Videlity and Nemesis.




We also expect Videlity to become a "must have" option, particularly
for Nemesis owners but also for users having a standard Falcon.




Videlity provides extremely reliable resolution switching and fixes
many bugs that are apparent in TOS, including some anomalies that seem
to exist in NVDI.




Rather than be constrained by fixed resolution settings which are
apparent in other screen expanders, Videlity allows fast operation and
complete flexibility in all operations.




Price has yet to be decided when sold separately but, as with all BSS
products, operation will be fast, smooth, glitch-free and with the
usual superb BSS hallmark for design and integration of the interface.




<B>APEX ALPHA (APEX 3)</B><BR>
APEX 3 is now officially called <A HREF="alpha.htm">APEX ALPHA</A>. As
has been mentioned before, the '3' denotes the development number of
this particular APEX product.




APEX Alpha was seen publicly for the first time at the Birmingham and
London shows on 28/29 September and is making great progress. Windows
can be moved & resized in real-time, with Expose' digitiser support
the file selector fully implemented.




Unlike Photoline, APEX Alpha (and Audio) operate in a fully customised
non-GEM environment for optimum speed and reliability, without being
constrained by the limitations imposed by GEM. Although this limits
operation to the Atari Falcon only, the extensive use of DSP machine
coding provides incomparable performance which cannot be duplicated on
any other TOS based computer.




The ability to create and edit 8-bit Alpha channel masks (256 levels
of transparency), Chroma-key range masking, multiple filtering,
anti-aliased block operations - all in real-time - puts APEX Alpha way
ahead of the competition, particularly when the price will only be
&163;99.00. This represents a huge saving of £70 over Photoline.




In addition APEX Alpha fully supports the higher true-colour
resolutions that are available from the Nemesis system accelerator
without any noticable slow-down in operation. The Videlity resolution
enhancement software (detailed above), will be packaged as part of the
APEX Alpha suite to provide control for the enhanced resolution
capability.




To realise the full capability of APEX Alpha, the purchase of Nemesis
expands the performance and versatility way beyond the standard
specification of a standard Atari Falcon.




It is expected that full support will also be included for pressure
sensitive touch tablets, colour scanners and printers.




Although it is difficult to be specific on a likely completion date,
progress is accelerating now that the program shell is complete and we
expect the finished article to be shipping towards the end of the
year.




<B>APEX AUDIO (APEX 4)</B><BR>
Following is the first (provisional) specification for APEX Audio;




    

  • o Extremely fast real-time DSP operation.

  • o Full 24-bit sampling capability.

  • o Waveform enhancment technology for high quality audio.

  • o Real-time resampling allowing record and playback at any sample 
rate from 6KHz to 99KHz.

  • o Direct-to-Disk sampling.

  • o Basic Filtering functions; low pass, high pass, etc.

  • o Waveform generation Studio.





In addition, it is possible that MIDI & SCSI sample dumps will be
included.




Price has yet to be finalised, but APEX Audio is expected to ship
towards the end of the year. As with APEX Alpha, Audio is at a similar
stage of completion - the shell of the program is complete and some of
the operations are already implemented - so a similar rate of progress
can be expected.








TITAN DESIGNS<BR>




<B>AFTERBURNER040 - Enhanced video resolutions</B><BR>




As can be expected, Afterburner040 also benefits from having the
Nemesis system accelerator installed. Not only does this increase the
overall performance of the system, but enhanced video resolutions are
also possible.




Falcon with Afterburner040 and Nemesis - all are non-interlaced
resolutions, 16-bit (65,536 colours per screen) on a standard 14" VGA.




                 CPU                 Video  Refresh
                 Bus    CPU    Pipe   Bus    (Hz)
720x528          12.5   25     50     25      50
640x480          12.5   25     50     25      60
576x432          20     40     80     20      50





As with the enhanced Nemesis video resolutions, the Video bus is the
crucial figure with regard to video performance and increased
resolutions, not the CPU bus.




Although the Afterburner CPU is being half-clocked in the highest
resolutions, the actual performance is still much higher than a
standard Falcon, and is completely switchable between the various
specifications.




The patches created by Black Scorpion Software to replace the existing
ones for the Afterburner040 have also been considerably enhanced, and
are being continually improved.




<B>NEW PRINTER TECHNOLOGY - 600x600dpi!</B><BR>
We are currently assessing a new colour printer which has only just
been announced and uses new technology called Micro Dry. The
performance of this printer permits colours resolutions of 600x600dpi
and, due to the printing process being perfectly dry, allows superb
photo-realistic reproduction on standard paper, transparencies,
Iron-on transfers, etc.




When creating plain black print-outs, this remarkable printer will
produce a laser sharp 1200x600dpi resolution.




Even more remarkable is the fact that true spot metallic colours are
possible when using special cartridges. The price for the printer is
expected to be £469.00, with CMYK cartridges costing around £7.95 each
and the metallic cartridges £9.95 each (Gold, Silver, Cyan and
Magenta).




It is expected that a printer driver will be created for use with APEX
Alpha.




More news will be provided as and when we receive it.








GRIBNIF SOFTWARE - NEW PRICES!<BR>




<B>NEW PRICE FOR THE GENEVA/NEODESK 4 BUNDLE!</B><BR>
Now Titan Designs can bring the complete <A
HREF="mt.htm">Geneva</A>/<A HREF="desktops.htm">NeoDesk 4</A> bundle
for a mere £79.95! The complete multitasking environment for
Atari ST/TT and Falcon computers, coupled with the latest version of
the most popular replacement Desktop system has never represented
better value.




<B>ARABESQUE PRO v2.15 - now only £39.95</B><BR>
A complete Bitmap and Vector based illustration program to create,
import, edit and save graphics in the two standard computer formats;
Bitmap and Vector. This superb program has now been reduced to an
incredible £39.95! Arabesque is still one of the best mono
vector/bitmap editing programs for use with any Atari computer and is
supplied with a 180 page manual.




Further details on any of the above products can be obtained from
Titan Designs/Black Scorpion and are detailed extensively on our Web
site;




    

  • e-mail: 100345.2350@compuserve.com

  • Web: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/TITANWEB/

  • Tel: +44 (0)121 693 6669

  • Fax: +44 (0)121 414 1630

    

  • 6 Witherford Way, Selly Oak

  • Birmingham B29 4AX






If you have some Atari related news please send it to us at any of 
the addresses listed on the homepage.





 



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