====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors- / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional e-mail I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I TAKE DELIVERY || Newsmagazine) ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 990925 M O R E F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T M O T O R O L A - N E W P P C S T R A T E G Y M I R A D A S U P P O R T S P H E O N I X C O N S O R T I U M A M I G A E X T R A V A G A N Z A 9 9 S W E D E N ' S A M I G A M A G D I E S W A S T E D D R E A M S C D D I G I T A L I M A G E S ' W I P O U T 2 0 9 7 N E W S C O A S T E R R E L E A S E D F U S I O N F O R P P C I N P R O C E S S P H O T O G E N I C S 4 . 2 P U R E B A S I C I S A V A I L A B L E Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: Our last issue carried the first statement from Amiga's new President. There were probably some readers who thought our reaction overly negative. That number may increase after reading his second statement, below. However, most of our readers seem to feel as we do, that with the latest moves at Amiga, there is no more future for an Amiga we would recognize. At least, none with the company which carries the name. While Mr. Schmidt talks of licensing others to make Amiga computers, he doesn't make any references to maintaining the standards for hardware and operating system within Amiga. He speaks only of the specifications for the MCC itself. It's vital for such standards to be maintained if there's to be any kind of an Amiga computer at all. This is our main concern with recent events, not the fact that Amiga won't make any computers themselves. Yes, that bothers us also, since they'd indicated they would actually build some at least. However, the real key is to ensure clone compatibility with a meaningful standard. So far, what we're seeing gives us little hope for such control. And pulling away from making any computers, which would provide a standard for clones, is a very strong negative statement. Also, remember Amiga OS 5 has disappeared from the Amiga web site. Folks, these are pretty strong indications, and they don't indicate good things. If Amiga proves to actually license and maintain meaningful standards for next generation computers, then we'll reverse our opinion of them gladly, and be happy to admit our misjudgement. We doubt we'll have to "eat crow" though, to use an old American saying. We also find it disingenuous for Amiga to say that bringing the MCC to market was beyond them. If so, buy stock in Dell and sell any you have in Gateway. There certainly are risks, but the approach Amiga was persuing would not be beyond Gateway, and only beyond Amiga if Gateway chose to make it so. We suspect there were people within Gateway who didn't see the worth, and did see the risks. This is common when a new opportunity collides with a company that's lost the entrepreneurial spirit and can't recapture it. Especially if there were pressure from Microsoft, as has been alleged in some quarters. We feel it's still possible for Gateway/Amiga to come up with something that will please the Amiga community down the road. We also feel the odds are greatly against it. If the Amiga is to survive as a computer platform, it probably is in the hands of the community. This is a heady and heavy challenge. We hope the people trying to make this work will succeed, and we stand ready to help them get the word out to you as they go forward. There are many efforts being launched by the community. Besides the "Phoenix Consortium" mentioned in last issue, there's AQUQ (a software architecture whose name stood for Amiga QNX Uniform Architecture, at least originally, and maybe still does), Amino (an Amiga like company name being discussed by former Amiga Inc. employee Fleecy Moss), and TAC (Team AMIGA Central). Despite requests for information to individuals identified as participating in these groups, none of them has responded to "Amiga Update" at this time. Some of the e-mail just bounced from the addresses we found on mostly empty web sites. Other e-mail went unresponded to. The reason for silence mentioned in the few public statements made is that pieces aren't in place yet to provide information properly, or that nothing is yet ready and there will be no premature announcements. Both are good reasons, but the situation does leave us unclear on who'll be doing what and what the relationships among groups is. As the picture clarifies, we'll bring you information. Well known Amigans such as Fleecy Moss and Bill McEwan have their names associated with much of the activity. Fleecy has given a long interview on some of what's underway. It can be found at http://www.williams.demon.co.uk/seal/fleecyint2.html as I write this. From where we sit, it's all very confused at the moment. Lots of acronyms, lots of good intentions, too early for anything real or any idea if there ever will be anything real. We do hope so. But we still have the standards issue ... TransMeta - No Betta' Than Gateway? Recently the CEO of TransMeta was quoted as saying there was never any connection between the secretive company and Amiga. The name TransMeta appeared at World of Amiga only because it was in the background of a picture of Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, who works for TransMeta. Unfortunately for that story, there were many Amigans watching, some of whom captured images of the presentation, who will be happy to state the name was on the list of partners, not in the background at all. Maybe we're better off without TransMeta, whatever they're doing. One thing we don't need more of is "untruths". We hope you enjoy this issue. Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail to the E-ditor: 10 Sep 1999 Hello Brad, I am the manager for the San Francisco State Univ. Residential Network (ResNet). We have ~1500 kids in our networked dorms. Each semester I get asked by kids and their parents what computer should they get. Well guess what, after two years of suggesting Gateway computers...All of a sudden my opinion has changed...Gateway?!...No, I think you would be much happier with a Dell :) Kind Regards, Harry == Harry, Thanks very much for the note and permission to print it. To the readers: Harry's note is in response to our last issue in which I mentioned I expected a backlash against Gateway that could be surprising to them because many Amigans are involved professionally in the IT industry in one way or another. I'm sure Harry isn't alone in his response and I must admit it brought a smile to my face. Brad ~~~~~~ 16 Sep 1999 Dear Brad, The one thing that is very obvious about Mr. Schmidt's release is that it is classic double-speak: it takes great pains to really say nothing at all. My counter to this release would be to tell Mr. Schmidt and Gateway to go ahead with their next millenium multimedia "appliance" and if they really need to call it "Amiga", then do so, but they could at least show some respect for the Amiga community by releasing the rights to the old OS and hardware so that someone (maybe this Phoenix group) can try to continue on our own path even if it's not called Amiga but something else. I've been using Linux now for most of the year. I think Linux shows us how to almost but not quite get it right. The Open Source concept is the key element that could resurrect the Amiga if anything can. What Linux lacks is anything beyond all the excited geeks who really believe in it. There is a pretense of support for Linux in all of its "documentation", but the documentation is largely a barely readable diverse collection of highly technical information, a lot of which is outdated and incorrect as far as newer releases of the kernel go. I have Wordperfect 8 for Linux and it works pretty well. It appears that Corel feels that because they allow it to be downloaded for free that they don't need to fix some of the glaring glitches in the display that are quite annoying (makes it look like a beta version). I even paid for a licensed copy of Wordperfect 8, and noted after I bought it that the CDROM manual that comes with it is for Wordperfect 7, and because of MANY differences in the operation of 7 and 8, it is virtually useless -- fortunately the written manual is correct. I wanted to email them to let them know about these various problems, but I can't find any email address on their website to send it to -- I'm certainly not going to pay for a phone call just to tell them all these problems. I keep wondering, where are the fixes? So the gist I get is that the commercial players are using Linux for two things: 1)to get back at Microsoft, and 2)to save money by not having to finish and support their products. Doesn't sound like the beginning of a success story to me. Personally, I view Linux as a way to keep myself intellectually occupied as I fumble my way around its innards. Meanwhile, I'm trying to learn Perl. Greg == Greg, If Linux is to continue its growth, it's going to have to address all problems of the nature you describe. It's too bad the Amiga will not be in a position to help. As for releasing the source of Amiga OS, that might indeed help. Just because Amiga OS is old doesn't mean it's bad. One reason many professionals in the IT world prefer UNIX to NT, and that includes me, is because UNIX has been around long enough to become very stable and mature. Amiga OS needs improvements in key areas, but it's also been tempered by time. Brad ~~~~~~ 15 Sep 1999 ...say it ain't so, Brad... I'm having trouble believing that Amiga is dead again. I need to hear it from Gateway. Yeah, I'd love to hear them admit that they did something so massively stupid. They came along at a time when MicroSoft was starting to show the strain; they found and bought a technology that had the potential to finally loosen ol' Visa Bill's grip on his monopoly; they set up a company to develop it, put their best people in it, poured dump truck loads of money into it; then, mere months before this shining hope was ready for release, they took the very part of the technology, (controlling internet appliances), that Microsoft already has wrapped up and chucked the whole rest of it in the dumpster! Irving Gould and Medhi Ali weren't _that_ stupid! P.S. Do you know off hand what the status of OS3.5 is? Allan == Allan, I think you echo questions a large number of Amigans are asking. As for OS 3.5, as nearly as I can tell it's real and coming. I have my copy on order. Brad ~~~~~~ 15 Sep 1999 Hello Brad After constructing a long response to Tom Schmidt's statement, I decided to erase it and just say I think he's "full of beans". It's discouraging that he can't tell the difference between hundreds versus thousands of e-mails as it is quite a large gap. He says "Long live Amiga" but Gateway-Amiga has only orphaned it once again in the same fashion of Commodore and Escom have done with broken promises, mis-management, and greed. THE real Amiga has been the devotion, work, and sacrifice of designers, programmers, developers, and users. They support and appreciate this "box and O/S" which makes their lives better. It's a wonderful workhorse and work of art. I personally want it spread again so that everyone has the opportunity to at least know what it is. I don't care if it's the number one seller, but I do care if its decendant is still around for us to use. So call me selfish..... Thank you very much for your newsletter, and thanks for posting the Phoenix information. They have my full support. - Lars == Lars, Like you, we wish the Phoenix consortium the best. They have a very difficult road ahead of them. On their side is that fact that no-one else has ever done what the Amiga community has already done. This computer has largely been kept alive by the community for years. Now it looks like it much be 100% a community project. Brad ~~~~~~ 14 Sep 1999 I'm not so sure this is all that bad. Months ago, Gateway said they weren't going to make the AmigaNG computer, just license the Amiga technology/OS. Collas said the same a few weeks ago. So now we're back to the same story. What has happened is that Amiga Inc./Gateway has gone into stealth mode after a lot of publicity, after saying earlier they didn't want to tip their hand to possible competitors (e.g. Microsoft) who could thwart their plans. Could not recent events serve to conceal Gateway's true plans, plans more to our liking than some are willing to admit? Maybe we'll find out in "two more weeks" (OK, 4 more months) :-) Gary == Gary, We honestly didn't pick and chose our letters for this issue to set a theme, the tone you see here accurately reflects how our readers feel. Thank you for providing a counterpoint view. We actually find it a positive thing that there are still some with hope for the future, and hope in Gateway/Amiga. However, for the reasons I state in my editorial above, I really don't expect anything from them. Here's hoping I'm wrong and you're right. Brad ~~~~~~ 11 Sep 1999 21:11:31 GMT Congratulations Ted, Your silence is dammning. you most likely will be remembered as the man who finally laid Amiga to rest. I suspect that we are so firecely protective of the Amiga because ALL of the alternatives, despite their dazzling specs are still "un-satisfying" to use. I run a growing business here in Japan using Amigas...it is quite difficult to to get hardare and software at times but I persist because all the Macs and PCs just do not "cut it" In closing, I wonder how my business would fare with you as the CEO. Judging by the track record thus far, I shudder to think. Congratulations Ted. It's an odd an unfamiliar feeling to say that even though I do not know you and most probably will never meet you in your lofty circles...I don't like you. In the end, you are responsible. That is how I personally see it. The Amiga is not a token in a Monopoly game to us. Michael == Michael, I doubt Ted Waite reads "Amiga Update", but I wish he did. As you say, in the end it's his company. Maybe in Waite/Schmidt we'll have another pair to place besides Gould/Ali. In truth, we're not quite at that point yet. There still is a very slim possibility Gateway/Amiga will do something the community will applaud. I'm not holding my breath waiting, however. We hope you'll forgive us for excerpting your letter. We had to do that to many of the notes above also, and some letters we couldn't fit in at all. For some odd reason, the old mailbox at "Amiga Update" is more full than it's been in a long time ... Brad ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M O R E F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T September 17, 1999 Open Letter to the Amiga Community There has been a great deal of confusion and frustration expressed in the news groups and via email over the past several weeks. I apologize that we have not been more direct in our communications, and I want to set the record straight. First, per my previous messages, I continue to be impressed with the passion and commitment of this community. You have "hung in there'' through a number of upheavals over the past years, and through several false starts on next-generation Amiga platforms. You deserve better. I have received many, many emails over the past two weeks, expressing your opinions and frustrations. Let me try and summarize what I have heard. Many of you acknowledge the fact that we are focusing on software for the coming generation of "Internet appliances.'' We are very excited about the new Amiga Operating Environment, the work we are doing with Linux (and other operating systems that support Java), and the huge growth curve in Internet appliances that we are going to ride. You have gracefully wished us well in this endeavor, for that, I thank you. As you know, we announced in July that we were pursuing the development of a "multimedia convergence computer'' that would serve as the next-generation Amiga desktop computer. After the change in management at Amiga, we reviewed all our product plans. To be honest, the ability for us to deliver the MCC was unrealistic. Furthermore, I have fundamentally decided that it would be better to partner with a wide variety of hardware partners, rather than compete against them with a product of our own. From your perspective, one big problem exists. Sounds great, but what does this new direction have to do with the original Amiga computer? Quite honestly, nothing! We realize that this does not satisfy the desire of the Amiga community for a next-generation Amiga. In response, I remain committed to seek out partners who are interested in developing a next-generation Amiga computer and operating system. We have been following the discussions amongst the newly formed "Phoenix Platform Consortium'' and talking to companies interested in supplying the next-generation Amiga. We are open to the possibility of licensing the MCC product specification and design that is now on the shelf to companies that are interested in further developing the Amiga desktop computer product line. We believe that this could be an attractive business opportunity for another company. In summary, we are continuing to focus our resources on setting software standards for the coming generation of Internet appliances. We are not planning to offer hardware devices, but will work with hardware manufacturers who want to license our technology. As far as offering next-generation Amiga systems, we are open to talking to companies who want to offer such a product. For those of you who are excited about the Amiga Operating Environment running on a wide variety of future Internet appliances, we invite you to track our progress and activities over the coming months. The Internet appliance software model that we are putting together will open up an exciting new era of software development that we think will be very interesting to the type of innovative thinkers who were drawn to the Amiga computer in years past. Best Regards, Thomas J. Schmidt President and CEO Amiga, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M O T O R O L A - N E W P P C S T R A T E G Y Motorola PowerPC Microprocessor Strategy (32K pdf) Motorola Discloses New PowerPCTM Microprocessor Strategy Roadmap Customers announce products based on the MPC7400 microprocessor Austin, TX - September 13, 1999 - In a move to demonstrate their strong long-term commitment to the PowerPC architecture as a strategic solution addressing multiple markets, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) today revealed its PowerPC Microprocessor Strategy Roadmap. Details included information on the future direction for development of leading-edge microprocessors, integrated devices, innovative design methodologies and manufacturing processes, as well as an aggressive strategy for rapid reuse of these technologies. The new products, all to be created at Motorola design centers worldwide, expand the PowerPC portfolio providing solutions for the networking, telecommunications, computing, transportation and other high-end embedded markets. The announcement was made during the keynote address at the company's Horizons '99 event, where several customers demonstrated new products based on the recently announced MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor "The high-performance embedded space craves raw MIPS processing and sophisticated integration for its products," said Daniel Artusi, Motorola vice president and general manager of the Network and Computing Systems Group. "The large and influential base of customers using PowerPC-based designs must be able to create flagship products and move them into the market rapidly. We've dedicated enormous resources in research and design to ensure that our PowerPC-based microprocessors continuously deliver best-in-class customer solutions for all of our target markets." As illustrated by Motorola's PowerPC Strategy Roadmap, the PowerPC core design facilitates ease of reuse for integrated devices or semi-custom applications. System level reuse of intellectual property results in faster time-to-market. In 1998, Motorola captured 36% of the 32-bit embedded processor market and the PowerPC architecture was rated the #1 choice for new 32-bit embedded applications*. Coupled with state-of-the-art design methodology, the PowerPC technology reuse strategy will further strengthen Motorola's already dominant market position. "The PowerPC roadmap underscores a renewed vigor by Motorola to advance the PowerPC family," said market watcher Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts (Tempe, AZ). "Applying the most advanced 0.15-micron copper HiPerMOS process to the product family indicates Motorola's substantial investment in advancing the PowerPC technology." Today TeraGLOBAL Communications Corporation, CSP Inc. and DY 4 Systems Inc. announced products based on Motorola's MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor with AltiVec technology. These products join other MPC7400-based solutions recently introduced by Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. and SKY Computers, Inc. The MPC7400 processor with AltiVec technology also powers all of Apple's newest and most powerful desktop computers, the Power MacTM G4 series. As the worlds's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector offers multiple DigitalDNATM solutions which enable customers to create new business computing, transportation, and wireless communications markets. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $7.3 billion (USD) in 1998. Motorola is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1998 were $29.4 billion. For additional information regarding Motorola PowerPC microprocessors, visit http://motorola.com/PowerPC. *Source: Cahner's MicroDesign Resources The Microprocessor Report, January 1999. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M I R A D A S U P P O R T S P H E O N I X C O N S O R T I U M 14 Sep 1999 It's about time the "big boys" came out to play. This has happened before. But unlike before, there truly are some heavyweights among the rebels (or is that REBOLs?) We're going to follow this one closely. It opens so many new and exciting doors. Maybe we (Mirada) won't have to do a 100% port to Linux after all (?) ;) To show our support, any of you weary may submit your support at our web-page and we will then forward it to "greenboy". And, to further show our hearts are in the right place, we will give the administrators of this project full access to the database via a web interface. Fleecy? Bill? We are only asking for the exact information that was asked for on the TA Mailing List. Point your browser to the form at: http://www.mirada-innovations.com/amigang.phtml NOTE: This is not yet officially endorsed by Amino or the "Phoenix Consortium", we are only doing it in support of the effort, all information is for the SOLE purpose of this effort. It will be forwarded to the E-Mail address in the TA Mailing List E-Mail (greenboy@bigsky.net) Regards, Jeffrey D. Webster Mirada Innovations http://www.mirada-innovations.com/polls/poll.phtml (Take our bi-weekly Political polls!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A E X T R A V A G A N Z A 9 9 24 Sept. 1999 Amiga Extravaganza 99 WHEN: October 8th (setup) and get acquainted Sat Oct 9th: 10am-6pm EST Sun Oct 10th: 10am-4pm EST WHERE: National Guard Armory 3912 West Minnesota St Indianapolis, IN HOW MUCH: $8 in advance $10 at the door (2 free tickets with purchase of 1 or more tables) Who Will Be There? If the vendor has a (*) by the name they are not totally committed or pending, this will change. Digital Arts Amiga, NewTek, DeskStation dealer located in Bloomington, IN *Seminare * ImageFX Computer animation and graphics for broadcast television, multimedia and the Internet SystemsForTomorrow Hardware and software for Amiga. Located in Independence, MO. * Token Media Video Imaging Studios has served as the Twin Cities full service video production center. Onyx Technologies Telecommunication solutions provider for the small to medium business "an authorized Altigen Communications Dealer" Amazing Amiga Magazine The World's First Monthly Amiga Magazine *Seminare * John Zacharias Author of AEMail, email client for the Amiga * Cloanto Italian makers of the high-quality PPaint, PSuite and Kara Collection font/etc. package. FWD-Computing Mail-order CD-ROM software for Amiga computers CompuQuick Media Center Hardware, software and peripherals in central Ohio. Dan's Deals Specializing In Amiga Components and Systems, located in NE Ohio Macrohard Computers Amiga Hardware dealer out of Ohio, Owner Laurent Arseneau Discount Computer Supplies Printing and computer supplies, Amiga compatible. Will be presenting a seminar about re-inking cartridges, creating your own designs for mouse pads, T-shirts & Cups. Details Show Space 99ft x 104ft (over 10,000 sq. ft!) Iteneriary Near by lodging ($ave with our group rate) Comfort-Sleep Inn Online Application Forms for Vendor/Dealers and User Groups. Vendor Space (8 ft tables - no limit on the # of tables) this price includes 2 free tickets All fees cover both Saturday and Sunday. If you are a User Group please click here, All Vendors/Dealers you need to click here. Please use one of the links above to apply for show space. Cost of Booths: $300 (Hurry!! deadline Sept 28th) Seafood Newburg & Prime Rib, click! Banquet All-U-Can-Eat Buffet $25 per person (Waterfront Inn) If you are interested in attending our show and you are not a vendor or part of a user group please click on the following form. ($ave Now!) AE Shows User Form Make All Payments Payable To: ARCUG, Indianpolis Att: Amiga Extravaganza A word from the President of ARCUG 4007 Lawndale Ave ,Suite A Indianapolis, IN 46254 http://www.midlink.com/amiga/aeshows2.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- S W E D E N ' S A M I G A M A G D I E S 13 Sept., 1999 The only printed Swedish Amiga magazine - "Amiga Info/AI Echo" - announced on September 10 that it has ceased publishing. It was started in 1996 by Thomas Svensson and the final issue (19) was published in March of this year. The final issue saw a name change from Amiga Info to "AI/Echo" to better reflect the magazine changing from an Amiga-only magazine to one also covering Linux. Although that meant an increase in sales it was not enough to save the magazine. AmigaInfo/AI Echo's web site will live on at www.xfiles.se. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- W A S T E D D R E A M S C D Winnipeg, MB, September 11, 1999 Power Solutions announces the first of its imported titles: Wasted Dreams CD for $49.99 CAD. With its hand drawn locations, digital speech, 3D rendered animations, strategy action, and logic puzzles it will keep players busy for some time. Wasted Dreams will work on any Amiga with 2MB Chip ram and 1MB Fast ram. It will utilize faster CPU's, more memory, and the AGA chipset if available. As well, our efforts to reduce old inventory continue. The 50% off sale is still ongoing. Buy Distant Suns CD v5.01 for $29.99 CAD and receive a 50% discount on all other products in our online ordering catalog. This discount does NOT apply to the Wasted Dreams CD. Power Solutions is an Amiga only Canadian company. Access our software catalog at http://www.powersolutions.mb.ca/cat_sw/ http://www.powersolutions.mb.ca/ info@powersolutions.mb.ca 1-204-453-0527 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- D I G I T A L I M A G E S ' W I P O U T 2 0 9 7 September 8th, 1999 - Blittersoft have announced today that we are now taking pre-orders for the famous Anti-Gravity Racer WipeOut 2097. This game needs little introduction, already proving a smash hit success on the PlayStation and PC platforms. We expect full release in October. At last a game is available on the Amiga that will really show off the power of the PPC platform and 3D capable graphics hardware. For further information and pre-order details, please visit the Store area on our Website. http://www.blittersoft.com Specification: Highly detailed 3d graphics 8 tracks with up to 15 ships racing concurrently 3 racing modes (time trial/arcade/challenge) 4 racing classes 5 ship models with different characteristics 8 weapons/extras 9 CD audio tracks + 16 bit sound fx MPEG animations (no external player required) Keyboard/Mouse/Joypad control (fully configurable) AMIGA-specific features: Runs in a window on the workbench (incl. resizing) Supports triple buffering for max. performance Increased maximal view distance during the race Fogging effect Mipmapping/trilinear filtering (if supported by hardware) Gamma correction Optional frame rate limitation Requirements: PowerPC 603e CPU (recommended: 604e CPU) 3D gfx card (minimal: CV3D, recommended: CVPPC/BVPPC or newer) recommended: sound card minimal 1 MB free HD space (recommended: 70 MB) 24 MB RAM (recommended: 32 MB RAM) CD-ROM drive OS 3.0 (recommended: OS 3.1) CyberGraphX/Picasso96 software WarpUp V4 software (included) Warp3D V2 software (included) recommended: AHI software ---------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S C O A S T E R R E L E A S E D 11 September, 1999 NewsCoaster, Offline Newsreader Available Announcing the release of NewsCoaster, a new shareware offline newsreader for the Amiga. The unregistered version can be downloaded from Aminet, in comm/news/newscoaster.lha Minimum Requirements: - 68020 or better - MUI - 4MB RAM (absolute minimum) - OS3.0 or above Features: - Powerful control over which posts are downloaded (eg, set a maximum number of posts to download) - can configure for each newsgroup individually - Killfile on any header - Automatic killfile creation, based on a particular message (eg, kill this thread, or kill all messages from this author) - Choose not to download messages greater than a certain number of lines - Email support to reply to sender - Automatic rewrapping of text when replying - no more overspilling lines - Multithreaded interface - view messages whilst replying to others, and having preferences windows open, continue to use the program whilst uploading and downloading news - Import function which reads in all news items from a given directory (and all sub-directories) allowing you to easily import news from your old newsreader - MIME Version 1.0 for decoding files - can decode Quoted-Printable, base64 and uuencoded messages - Attachments - base64 encoding - Search facilities - can search in a particular header, or in any header, the message body, or the entire message - *, / and _ are converted to bolds, italics and underlines - but this can be turned off (no more unreadable programming NGs that you get in some newsreaders...) - You can have eight signatures, with a default specified for each newsgroup - Easy to use interface - AmigaGuide documentation - Download Group list option - Many more features.. Please visit http://members.tripod.com/newscoaster for more details. Thanks, Mark Harman ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F U S I O N F O R P P C I N P R O C E S S FUSION-PPC in the works! Deadline for release: November 20th, 1999 17 Sept., 1999 Microcode Solutions is pleased to announce that the 60 day count down for the release of the PPC module will begin on September 20th, 1999. The PC version is being worked on at the same time as the Amiga version, so the expected release date will be close to the Amiga version. Although we have 60 days to complete the product, it may be that it is done much sooner... especially in light of the competition between Microcode Solutions and Emulators, Inc. to release a PPC version for the PC. The retail price for the PowerPC upgrade module is $199.95. If you pre-pay before the release of the product (regardless of the stated release date), you will be charged only $149.95. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P H O T O G E N I C S 4 . 2 15 Sept., 1999 Paul Nolan is pleased to announce Photogenics 4.2, another free update to existing users of Photogenics 4.x. The main new features in 4.2 are Tool Tips for quick and easy explanations of all of the items in the tool bar, a Media Cache for improved Media loading times, and new paint on image processing modes such as: Gamma, Sharpen, UnsharpMask, BizarrePixelize, Randomize, and Channel Randomize. Blur, Convolve and RadialBlur have been rewritten for more speed, features and options. In particular Blur is now incredibly fast. Processing a 50x50 pixel blur on a 800x600 image now takes less than 2 seconds on an 060, with a huge 500x500 pixel blur taking just 3 seconds, and is fast enough to apply with the AirBrush! Several minor changes include an enhanced Scale with improved quality and feedback, an improved Text tool, a reduction in the memory need by Photogenics by one megabyte (now uses just two megs with no images loaded), various overall speed improvements, keyboard shortcuts for zoom and pan, plus tweaks to the user interface. Price $99.99 US Dollars. Upgrade from Photogenics v1.x or v2: $75 US Dollars. How to purchase Photogenics You can securely order online with your credit card by going to http://www.paulnolan.com and clicking on Purchase, or by calling the StarByte order hotline toll free on 1 800 243 1515, extension 400. Outside of Northern America, please prefix this number with the necessary dialing code (00 from the UK), and note that international call charges will apply. If upgrading, you will need your registration code, type it into the field labeled Comments or tell the salesperson. Photogenics is also available fully localized in German, with distribution in Germany courtesy of Schatztruhe, http://www.schatztruhe.de. For screen shots, a gallery, and even more information please visit the Photogenics website at http://www.paulnolan.com Photogenics is a registered trademark of Paul Nolan. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P U R E B A S I C I S A V A I L A B L E 11 Sept., 1999 Pure Basic is brand new 'high level' programming langage based on the previoulsy etablished B.A.S.I.C rules. It ensure a good compatibility with similar basic compiler independement of the computer. The learning is easy, as basic has been created for beginner and the development time is really fast. This software has been developed for the Amiga with the Amiga enviromment in mind. We have put lot of effort in its realization to produce fast, reliable and system friendly langage. The respect of the OS is always the master word, and you couldn't write bad software with the basic commandset provided. Of course, you could add any other functions to bash the hardware and use all the Amiga power, if you need it. The syntax is easy, but the possibities are huge because some 'advanced' functions has been added to this langage like pointers, structure, procedure, dynamic linked lists, and more.. For the experienced coder, there is no problem to access any of the legal OS structures or amiga objects. Finally, Pure Basic support the 680x0 processor and in early stage the PowerPC. The PowerPC processor is not fully working yet because we don't have any PPC accelerator at the Fantaisie Software team to achieve the tests. The 68000 part has been very optimized to output the best code as possible, but we're sure we could do even better ! Look yourself at the main features of Pure Basic: - 68000 and 68020+ support (PowerPC in progress) - Built-in Array, dynamic linked list, complex structure, pointer and variable definitions - Supported types: Byte (8 bit), Word (16 bits), Long (32) and user defined ones (structures) - Signed (finished) and unsigned (partially) support for standard types - Built-in strings type - Constants, binary and hexadecimal numbers support - Very good expression reducer by grouping constants and numeric numbers together - Standard arithmetic support with respect of signs priority and parenthesis: +, -, /, *, and, or, lsl, asl, lsr, asr - Compile about 30 000 lines/min on a 68030/50 (with PoolMem installed) - Procedure support for structured programming with locals and global variables (not fully finished) - All Standard BASIC keywords: If-Else-EndIf, Repeat-Until ... - External libraries support to manipulate easily objects like IFF pictures, screens, windows, gadgets... - Precompiled structures and constants files for extra fast compiling. - Cool debugger to stop the program execution and trace the bugs easily. - Configurable CLI compiler - System friendly, easy to install and always under development Visit our site web at: http://www.citeweb.net/fantaisi/ Enjoy the Amiga power ! © 1999 - Fantaisie Software - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: All back issues available at: http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html Stop by and check out our archive! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1999 by Brad Webb. 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