  
                *---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
                       """"""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
                   _____________________________________
                                   from
                            STR Publishing Inc.
                            """"""""""""""""""


  February 16, 1990                                               No.4.07
  =======================================================================
  
                       CPU NewsWire Online Magazine
                                 featuring
                             STReport ~ Online
                        __________________________
                          Post Office Box   6672
                          Jacksonville,  Florida
                               32205 ~ 6672
  
                               R.F. Mariano
                            Publisher - Editor
                 _________________________________________
                   Voice: 904-783-3319  10 AM - 4 PM EDT
                  BBS:  904-786-4176   12-24-96 HST/14.4
                    FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT
                 _________________________________________
  
                  **  F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online  **
                    STR'S owned & operated support BBS 
                  carries ALL issues of CPU/STR Newswire
                                    and
               An International list of private BBS systems
             carrying CPU NewsWire for their users  enjoyment
    __________________________________________________________________ 
    
 > 02/16/90: CPU Newswire #407  The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! 
   ---------------------------- 
     - The Editor's Podium    - CPU REPORT        - CPU STATUS REPORT
     - ADVERTISING - WHERE?   - PARSEC BOARD      - PCD2 - OH NO!
     - Inside Double Click    - AUA NEWSBRIEFS    - STE & Present S/W
     - Wayne Gretsky Hockey   - DynaCADD p IV     - CPU CONFIDENTIAL

         ---===***  SUPERCHARGER PC EMULATOR REVIEWED!  ***===---
          ---===**  STE TO BE AVAILABLE IN USA BY APRIL **===---
                --==*  REVOLVING DOOR DOES IT AGAIN! *==--

 ==========================================================================
                               CPU  NEWSWIRE
                  "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
                              -* FEATURING *-
        Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information
             Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
 ==========================================================================
 CPU/STR's support  BBS, NODE  # 350  invites systems using Forem ST BBS to
 participate in  Forem BBS's  F-Net mail  network.   Or, Please  call # 350
 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about
 the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network.
 ==========================================================================
       AVAILABLE ON:      COMP-U-SERVE  ~  DELPHI  ~  GENIE  ~  BIX
 ==========================================================================
    
 > The Editor's Podium


     The news this week is coming fast....   Atari will  be at  WOA Anaheim
 and  will  support  the  show  as  in  the past.  Atari has a new Atari US
 president, ST Journal is right around the corner,  and of  course, the STE
 is supposed to go on sale in the USA by April.  These are but a few of the
 many exciting items we cover this  week.   I have  noticed where  some, (a
 very select  few) have  had a  few comments  about the  size of our humble
 offering.  Without getting into a bunch of nonsense, all that need be said
 is its,  as always,  the most outstanding bargain to be had in getting the
 very latest news and information while it is still news and not history.

     The major online services are growing  in  leaps  and  bounds,  CIS is
 opening nodes  in Europe as is GEnie.  Next month ISD will hold its online
 conference on GEnie direct from  Australia.  The  entire  online situation
 does nothing  but get  better and  better for the users.  We hear that the
 major services are also  gearing up  to offer  96oo baud  in select cities
 around the nation.  Times sure have changed, I remember thinking I was hot
 stuff because I purchased a 12oo baud modem  initially thus  bypassing 3oo
 baud.  Today 96oo baud is where 24oo baud was 18-24 months ago.

     PC Ditto II has turned into the news story of the year, unfortunately,
 for Avant-Garde it is not a bright and  rosy story.   PCD2  has managed to
 bring about  some of  the hottest arguments I have ever seen on the lines,
 various individuals have been made comical  examples of  by the  course of
 events surrounding  PCD2.   They all  showed strong  faith in the AG folks
 only to be zapped right along  with the  faithful who  forked over $150.00
 advance monies for a device that has been a stressful embarrassment to all
 parties involved.   AG has done little  or nothing  to change  this stress
 filled  condition  that  exists  online  and throughout the Atari arena at
 this time.  

     By their indifferent appearing behavior ie; off the  hook phones, send
 in the  chips, don't fix what ain't broken and a generally perceived 'laid
 back' attitude has resulted in  many  users  and  a  few  developers being
 placed in extreme compromising positions.  We feel its AG's responsibility
 to put this nonsense to bed, they must send the new pals to each and every
 person who  has already  received the  board and  for those  who are still
 waiting they must send a board with the new pals  in place.   Lastly, they
 should  set  up  a  program  of  "Return for Credit" for these huge, badly
 designed boards once AG has redesigned and has a smaller board available. 

     This issue has AG and PCD2 covered in three different areas be sure to
 read them  all.   We will always will continue trying our hardest to bring
 you the very best in coverage of all the news and items of interest in the
 Atari arena  along with  top notch  reviews.   Supercharger is covered, in
 depth, in this issue by two very capable reviewers.

                                   Thanks for your strong support,

                                             Ralph......






  **********************************************************************


                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

      To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.

               Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                         Wait for the U#= prompt.

                 Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

                       **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED ****

           The system will now prompt you for your information.


                THE GENIE ATARI ST ROUNDTABLE - AN OVERVIEW
                ___________________________________________

 The Roundtable is an area of GEnie specifically  set aside  for owners and
 users of Atari ST computers, although all are welcome to participate.

 There are  three main  sections to the Roundtable: the Bulletin Board, the
 Software Library and the Real Time Conference area.

 The Bulletin Board contains messages from Roundtable members  on a variety
 of Topics,  organized under  several Categories.   These  messages are all
 Open and available for all to read (GEnie Mail should be used for private
 messages).  

 If you have a question, comment, hot rumor or an answer to  someone else's
 question, the Bulletin Board is the place to share it.

 The Software  Library is  where we  keep the  Public Domain software files
 that are available to all Roundtable members.   You can  'download' any of
 these files  to your own computer system by using a Terminal Program which
 uses the 'XMODEM' file-transfer method.  You can also share  your favorite
 Public Domain  programs and  files   with   other  Roundtable  members  by
 'uploading' them to the Software Library. Uploading on  GEnie is  FREE, so
 you are encouraged to participate and help your Roundtable grow.

 The Real  Time Conference  is an area where two or more Roundtable members
 may get together and 'talk' in    'real-time'.    You  can  participate in
 organized  conferences  with  special  guests,  drop in on our weekly Open
 COnference, or simply join  in  on  an  impromptu  chat  session.   Unlike
 posting messages  or Mail  for other  members to  read at some later time,
 everyone in the Conference area can see what you type immediately, and can
 respond to you right away, in an 'electronic conversation'.



  **********************************************************************





 > CPU REPORT
   ==========

   Issue # 54
   ----------


 by Michael Arthur


 Remember When....

       In 1968,  Ken Thompson,  using concepts  from an OS he had worked on
 called Multics, developed  an  OS  which  he  named  UNICS  (for Uniplexed
 Information  and  Computing  System)  so  he  could play a planetary orbit
 simulator/game he had ported to the DEC PDP-7, and when  AT&T's Bell Labs'
 Patent  Office,  after  using  his  operating  system for word processing,
 renamed it Unix?


 CPU Systems Roundup XXII
 =========================


          Optical Computing:  Photonics, Optoelectronics, and AT&T
          --------------------------------------------------------


       AT&T recently announced an  experimental computer  based on photonic
 technology.   This has stirred up much discussion on both the capabilities
 of optical computing, and its role  in  the  future  of  the microcomputer
 industry.   But in order to understand the potential of both photonics and
 optical computers, let us take a  look  at  both  the  differences between
 photonics and electronics, and how optical computing is being developed...

       In ordinary (or electronic) computers, streams of electrons are sent
 through transistors,  which manipulate  this flow  in a  network of "logic
 gates",  which  can  perform  mathematical operations.  However, in AT&T's
 experimental optical computer, bursts of low-intensity lasers are directed
 towards a  light modulating  crystal, which  acts as  a switch. This light
 energy causes physical changes in  the  "switch",  so  they  either become
 opaque (so they absorb light), or translucent, so they can reflect light.

       Then, a second burst of lasers (of equal strength) are reflected off
 the switches, in order to determine which "state" they are in.  If a laser
 that has  been directed  towards a  switch is strongly reflected, then the
 switch is translucent, and the data bit which it represents  is determined
 to be  a binary number 1.  If the laser which is reflected from the switch
 is relatively weak, then the switch is opaque, and the bit is 0.  A series
 of these  "weak/strong" switches can then be coordinated into logic gates,
 so they can perform mathematical operations.

       This type of technology is known as photonics.  Just  as electronics
 uses electrons, photonics use the components of light (or photons), in its
 operations.  Streams of photons (or light) are generated by  either an LED
 or a small diode laser, and are then transmitted to LMCs (light modulating
 crystals), which are then coordinated into the logic  gates which  make up
 the chip.

       There  are  several  advantages  to  using  optical  technology  for
 integrated circuitry, including:

       -  Speed.  Since they  are, in  essence, what  light is  made up of,
 photons  travel  at  the  speed  of light.  Therefore, photonic technology
 would be a LOT faster  than  electronic  technology.    Resulting  in MUCH
 faster computer circuits....

       -   More compact designs.  Far less energy is needed for using beams
 of light for computing than electricity, since one would not  need to pump
 as much  energy into  a photonic  circuit in  order to  maintain it.  This
 would also result in photonic devices  generating much  less heat, meaning
 that optical circuitry could be fitted more closely than normal electronic
 circuitry.

       Also, while  electrons are  part of  a category  of particles called
 fermions (whose electrical charges repel one another), photons are part of
 a particle class known as bosons, which do not interfere  with one another
 like fermions.   The  reason that  wires are  needed to transmit electrons
 (and electricity,for that matter) is because competing streams of fermions
 would otherwise  distort each  other so  much that  they couldn't get from
 Point A to Point B in any semblance of order.  Since  photons do  not have
 this  problem,  large  numbers  of  them can be transmitted close (or even
 through) each other without creating a problem.

       This means that different streams of light can be sent  next to each
 other simultaneously.   Now,  if each  stream of  light stood for a bit of
 data, then  one could  easily implement  64-bit, 128-bit,  or even 256-bit
 microprocessors using  photonics.   And given that the state of the art in
 electronic microprocessors is 32-bit chips....  This type  of method could
 also be used to implement vastly sophisticated neural networks or parallel
 processing systems, since each  stream  of  light  could  be independently
 accessed by several photonic circuits.

       This, and  other benefits  of photonics  is one  of the reasons that
 Japanese companies have been  quietly  pumping  millions  of  dollars into
 optical  computing  research.    Also,  it  seems  that the combination of
 photonics and holographic technology  is  being  researched.    Instead of
 transmitting light to an LMC, some scientists are looking into directing a
 stream of light towards  holograms,so as  to create  holographic images on
 certain points  of a  two-dimensional grid  which would correspond to bits
 (or pages) of  data.    Called  "Page-Oriented  Holographic  Memory", this
 technology could  be capable of storing a gigabyte of data on each storage
 unit.  Also, using photonic technology  to  "read"  this  unit,  one could
 access  data  at  a  rate  fast  enough  to make memory for purely optical
 computing reasonably fast....

       However,  while  the  benefits   of  optical   computing  are  many,
 implementing integrated  circuitry that  is fully  based on photonics will
 take several years of development.  In order  to utilize  the abilities of
 optical  computing  in  the  near  future,  an  upcoming technology called
 optoelectronics is being developed,  which combines  the speed  of optical
 technology with proven electronic circuitry.

       In  optoelectronics,  light  is  transmitted  via  optical fibers to
 special photodetectors,  which them  simply convert  light into electrical
 impulses, which  can be  used by ordinary electronic devices.  In essence,
 data is sent at the speed of light to each integrated circuit,  which then
 processes the data at a normal rate.  This method of interconnecting chips
 has great potential.   For example,  whole bus  architectures could become
 networks  of  optical  fiber,  sending  data  at  the  speed  of light for
 microchips to process.    Resulting  in  that,  instead  of  carrying only
 megabytes of data a second (like current bus architectures), optical buses
 could easily transmit a gigabyte (1024 megabytes) or more amounts  of data
 a second....

       Photonic  technology,  though,  is  only  in  its earliest stages of
 development.  Currently, the accuracy of calculations done with completely
 photonic  computers  is  low  in  comparison  to that of modern electronic
 computers.  Also, new design techniques  must  be  developed  in  order to
 develop microchips  which take full advantage of the capabilities inherent
 in photonic  technology.   However, optoelectronics,  photonics, and other
 technologies used  in optical  computing will certainly become an integral
 part of future computer technology....




 CPU INSIGHTS
 =============


                Apple, Users Suggestions, and the IIgs Plus
                -------------------------------------------

       Recently, this message was uploaded to InterNET (a national computer
 network of which UseNet is a part of) by a person on America Online, a new
 Online service for Apple-related computers.   It reveals  some information
 about  the  efforts  of  Apple's  new Apple II marketing group to actively
 pursue Apple  IIgs  sales  in  the  US.    Interestingly  enough,  the new
 Marketing Group  was hired  around the  time of  Apple's announcement of a
 serious drop revenue for the  First  Quarter  of  1990,  partly  caused by
 lackluster sales of Apple II computers....

 FYI.....
 -----
 Here's a  captured post from America OnLine.  Apparently they are actually
 soliciting input from users in regard to the Apple IIGS.

 I regard this as somewhat positive; and was thinking perhaps  we could add
 in some comments here.

 Subj:   Apple //  Wish List                    90-01-09 23:00:42 EST From:
 AFL JCline                            Msgs:  27 (90-01-11)

 I just returned from an Apple // conference  at Apple  Inc., Cupertino and
 the message  is very  clear to me that Apple will do what needs to be done
 to position the Apple // product so that the Apple  // holds  the place it
 deserves in  the market. A very aggressive marketing group is developing a
 marketing  plan  and  they  want  grass  roots  input.  I  was   there  as
 representative of  user groups  and they  welcomed what I had to say. They
 want your thoughts and you will start to see the results very soon now. If
 you would  like to  be a part of this aggressive campaign, all you have to
 do is put your thoughts in  this folder  or the  Folder in  the User Group
 Forum (Keyword UGF).

 The ground rules are simple if you want to be heard:
    - Be positive - What could or should be done.
    - Don't be practical, say it! What do you wish Apple would do?
      Let them figure out what does not work or is not possible.
    - State your wildest wish - go for it!
    - Do you want to see different hardware, software, System
      software, what?  Innovative ideas anyone???

 This Apple  marketing team will be reading all of your input and again, if
 you want to be heard - be up - be positive. But  do it  now, this  team is
 aggressive,  they  are  moving  and  shooting so give them your ammunition
 while the action is dynamic.

 Just start your comment by saying, "I wish..." For example I could say:
 "I wish I could buy a complete Apple //gs system with built  in SCSI, hard
 drive and color monitor for less than $1200."

 Its your turn and the clock is running...

 Jerry Cline User Group Forum Leader


                              ---===**===---


 But ponder, if you will, these questions:

 1)   Given its potential, will the advances in optical computing eliminate
     the need for electronic computer circuitry which uses superconductors?

 2)   Jean-Louis Gassee,  formerly head  of Apple's  R&D Division, resigned
     amidst  rumors  of  dissatisfaction  over  the  actions  of  new Apple
     President Loren.  What effect will this have on Apple?

 3)  What are other ways  in which  photonics and  optoelectronics could be
     used in making optical computers?


                             ---===0000===---



 > CPU STATUS REPORT      >>> INDUSTRY-WIDE LATE BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS <<<
   ==================



 - Armonk, NY                       *** IBM ANNOUNCES 16 MEGABIT CHIPS! ***
   ----------

     IBM  has  recently  announced  development  of  16 Megabit DRAM chips,
 capable of storing up  to 16  Megabytes of  memory.   The most interesting
 thing about  this is that IBM has manufactured 16-megabit DRAM chips using
 the same plants used for 4-megabit  DRAM chips.   Most  Japanese companies
 have been developing new production lines for these upcoming chips....

     Matsushita has  also announced  that they  will be shipping 16-megabit
 DRAM chips by the end of this year.  Given that 4 Meg DRAM chips have only
 now gained a measure of industry-wide use....



 - Tokyo, Japan         *** INTEGRATION OF COMPUTERS INTO SCHOOLS BEGUN ***
   ------------

     The Japanese  Ministry of  Education has announced a Five-Year program
 that is designed to  integrate computers  into the  standard curriculum of
 Japanese schools.   With a goal of providing a computer for every two high
 school students, the Japanese Ministry is also coordinating development of
 educational software as part of its program....




 - West Chester, PA                        **** AMIGA HOPES ARE HIGH!! ****
   ----------------

     Industry analysts  are speculating  that the  Amiga 3000 will not only
 have 4 32-bit Expansion Slots (3 less than  the Amiga  2000),but will come
 with 1  Meg of  Video RAM  and 1 Meg of System RAM as standard, as well as
 "flickerfixer" hardware, and AmigaDOS 1.4.  It seems  that the  Amiga 3000
 may cost  less than  the Amiga  2500/30, a  new version  of the Amiga 2000
 which has a 25 MHZ 68030 chip.  Its Cost: $4500.00.... Amiga 2500/30



 - Cupertino, CA         **** ACTIONS ON APPLE TRADEMARK STOPPED COLD! ****
   -------------


     The  judge  in  Apple  Corps  Ltd.'s  lawsuit  against  Apple Computer
 recently  ruled  that  Apple  was  prohibited from engaging in attempts to
 revoke Apple Corps Ltd.'s trademark in  several countries,  including West
 Germany and Japan.

     This was  one of the stipulations of a contract made between Apple and
 Apple Corps in 1981, in which Apple was  permitted to  use the  Apple logo
 and the trademark, "Apple", as long as Apple Computer didn't make any
 computers capable  of producing synthesized music or sound.  Since the Mac
 SE, Apple IIgs, and the Mac II line of computers now have sound chips, and
 support for MIDI software, Apple Corps Ltd. (a musical company
 started by  the Beatles)  is suing to stop Apple from selling all products
 which violate their contract, and get a royalty of 15 percent on the money
 Apple has  made from  these products.  And given that such penalties could
 cost Apple hundreds of millions of dollars....





        ___________________________________________________________


  


 > ADVERTISING - WHERE? CPU/STR Spotlight   Silence is golden, SOMETIME!
   ======================================




                                   PRODUCT RECOGNITION IS PARAMOUNT!
                                   ================================



 by R. F. Mariano


     To advertise is to induce sales.  Advertising is the  lifeblood of any
 successful business enterprise.  Cliches are a dime a dozen, but they are,
 in most cases, often very  correct.    Sure,  advertisements  seen  by the
 general  US  population  will  generate  sales,  but will it create enough
 revenue to justify the expense of a national advertising campaign?
  
     Let's take a look, first as a comparison, consider the  high degree of
 success in  Europe.   Believe me, it is no accident or stroke of luck.  In
 almost every hamlet one can find small software shops and each one of them
 is well  stocked in  ST software.   Why?   Because  the installed userbase
 warrants such activities.
  
     How is the installed userbase enlarged?   What  is the  best method to
 accomplish this  in the  USA?   The answers to these two questions are not
 simple but they are answerable.

     A) - The best method to enlarge the userbase is to sell  more machines
 in  a  given  marketplace.    (common  sense)    To  sell these additional
 machines the potential customer (the one who pays the bills) must be shown
 a need  that this  machine will satisfy.  The potential customer must also
 feel  comfortable  with  the  reputation  of   the  machine,   dealer  and
 manufacturer.   Lastly, the  machine must  be made available to dealers at
 the same time the advertising takes place or at best, when promised.

     B) - A practice with a true, proven track record  is ADVERTISING!   Ah
 yes,  such   a  sensitive  word  at  Atari.    They  have  been  promising
 advertising since Moses parted the Red Sea.  At least Moses did  the right
 thing.   Truly, a  suicidal manuever, in the business world, is to promise
 something to the userbase in a given market and then NOT deliver.  In this
 case, the  United States  of America  is the marketplace.  And then to top
 the scenario off, Atari, amazingly, acts like the  promise was  never made
 and  simply  must  be  a  figment  of  everyone's imagination.  Atari must
 advertise and it must not only be in the geographical areas where  Sam and
 his brothers will see it, it must be nationally.  

     C)  -  Now,  let's  look  at  this  from  a  different  angle, granted
 advertising is an absolute but how  can it  best be  implemented where the
 dollars  spent  maximize  the  effectiveness?  Two readily available areas
 that come to mind immediately are  strategic market  hubs in  the USA, for
 example; New  York City,  Chicago, Washington  DC, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas,
 Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland.   The  second is  perhaps Atari's
 most powerful  tool to be utilized in reaching the large numbers of people
 needed.  This is ..Usergroups!  

     D) - Who, in these lean times, are a more enthusiastic group  of Atari
 supporters   than   the   membership   bodies  of  usergroups  nationwide?
 Usergroups could very easily  close the  gap of  product recognition Atari
 Computers  now  suffers  from.    Usergroup membership bodies encompass an
 extremely wide cross section of our society and  therefore have  the means
 to deliver the message on a grand scale.  

     E) -  Consider this  for a moment, if Atari really wanted to penetrate
 the US market place and  ensure  product  recognition  for  generations to
 come, why  haven't they  challenged Apple by instituting the adoption of a
 'computers for schools' program of their own.   Mention an  Apple computer
 to grade school children and they immediately know of, or have used one in
 school.

     F) - Dealers are the next logical step in a planned enlargement of the
 userbase.   They have  the unique distinction of actually 'being Atari' to
 the consumer.  And if properly done, a  dealer can  develop a  strong bond
 between the  customer and Atari.  You ask; Why isn't this happening?  That
 is not an  easy  answer.    The  reasons  behind  why  dealers,  users and
 developers are  switching rather  than fight is sad.  It really used to be
 they'd rather fight than switch.   Many dealers  have left  because of the
 lack  of  Atari's  direct  involvement  in  making sure the integrity of a
 dealer's territory remains protected.  ie; deep discount  mail order.. yes
 bunky, it is still going on.

     G)  -  When  people  step  forward  with questions or suggestions, the
 response they usually get is lackluster at best  or, as  in some  cases in
 the  online   environment,  truly   belligerent.     This  is  (at  times)
 understandable because the folks online are indeed frustrated and tired of
 being 'backed to the wall'  by the users.  This is primarily caused by the
 total lack of positive, forward progress by Atari.  In some cases they ask
 for the  'treatment' by getting themselves involved in online issues other
 than that of product or technical  support.   The userbase  remembers this
 ..and when  the ole  iron is  hot ..they do their thing.  Which ultimately
 hurts Atari.

     H) - Developers well, they are  a  unique  group  of  people,  they do
 criticize, and  when they,  as is the case of one developer in particular,
 get too loud or perhaps too accurate, Atari  has a  tendency to over-react
 and has  as in  this case,  cancelled their developer access.

     Fortunately,  in  this  market,   because  of   Atari's  lackadaisical
 approach, we  have the  luxury of  being able to observe other's successes
 and failures thus, we are able  to avoid  many bad  judgement calls.   One
 comparison, in  particular comes to mind, this is the National Advertising
 advocates comparing the European market to ours.   There is  no way really
 to compare  the two.  For example, take the United Kingdom, Great Britain,
 it can placed in the state of Florida almost twice.  How  can one possibly
 compare  the  cost  of  a  National  ad  campaign  in  the  UK to the USA?
 Sensibly speaking, there is no obvious way.  There is however, a number of
 approaches  that  may  be  taken  that  can  justify the greater cost of a
 National ad campaign in the USA.
  
     National advertising must hold  high stakes  returns for  it to  be an
 equitable effort  on the part of any company.  Here, in the USA the stakes
 are as high as they get.   For  example, the  main players  are of course,
 Atari  and  then  comes  those  who have supported this company.  Dealers,
 developers and most of all users.  Once  the ad  campaign begins,  one can
 readily see  renewed vigor in most all of us and indeed renewed enthusiasm
 will be  displayed  to  those  who  inquire  of  us  about  the computers.
 Unfortunately,  the  braintrust  in  Sunnyvale  is  still easy prey to the
 small minded bean counters who seem  to delight  the executive  corps with
 meager  profits.    They  simply  have  lost grasp of the buying power the
 general population of this country is  capable of  ..once you  reach them.
 The ONLY way to reach them is through a national ad campaign.  Period.  No
 amount of double talk  or blathering  will talk  away this  basic business
 fact of  life.    The stakes involved once Atari gets off its dead end are
 quite high.  In fact,  it  is  easy  to  see  where  the  future  of Atari
 computers is  one of  the highest  stakes at  this time.   If  they do not
 advertise  nationally  this  year,  the  opinion  of  many  well informed,
 industry observers  is simple,  "Atari may  as well  concentrate on things
 like the Lynx because they will no longer  be considered  a player  in the
 US  computer  market.    Those  with high stakes involved right along with
 Atari are the  loyal  dealers,  distributors,  third  party manufacturers,
 developers and of course, the users who have supported Atari all along.
  
     If Atari  does keep  their word  and advertise nationally as they have
 promised three years running,  then it  is safe  to say  that the userbase
 worldwide will  swell to  well over  one million.  As this occurs, we will
 see a dynamic increase in product  recognition, software  development, and
 best of  all, a solid future for the both the users and Atari. Needless to
 say, the advertising costs will be more than  simply justified,  they will
 be a  pleasure to  see.   If this ever comes to pass, Atari will enjoy its
 rightful place in the US computer market after all.  Time will tell.






        ___________________________________________________________




 > PARSEC BOARD CPU/STR FOCUS   Superb graphic power...
   ==========================


 EXCLUSIVE!!
 ===========
                                   The Parsec Graphics Board
                                   =========================



 by Charles Medley


      One  of the long standing dreams and wishes for the Atari  ST 
 owner has been to own the mythical Parsec Graphics  Board.   Early 
 reports of its capabilities, revolving around a TI34010 running at 
 50mhz,  were  absolutely incredible,  and the prospect of  such  a 
 board  attached to the ST added considerable stock to the idea  of 
 sticking with an ST for video work (at least for me!)....

      A  few  minutes ago,  I spoke with David  Encill  of  Elmtech 
 Research,  the  company behind this exciting new  product.   David 
 explained  to me some of the exciting capabilities of  the  Parsec 
 while answering some "down-to-earth" questions from a  prospective 
 buyer.

      First of all, the Parsec Graphics Board connects to ANY Atari 
 ST  via the cartridge port.   This means a 520ST could operate  in 
 conjunction with the Parsec, just as well as a Mega 2.

      The  Parsec  comes in two models:   the 4768  and  the  8768. 
 Initially,  the  capabilities are scaled down to a  resolution  of 
 1024x768 with 16 colors/scanline from 4096.   As an  aside,  David 
 mentioned that unlike the regular ST, this means that you can pick 
 16  totally different colors for each individual  scanline!   With 
 768 scanlines,  this means a lot....  This "base" model comes with 
 768k of VRAM (Video RAM), but is easily expanded to the same level 
 as  the  8768  mode  with more  RAM.   The  Parsec  8768  contains 
 approximately  2.5  MB  of VRAM with another  4  MB  of  "program  
 memory".   At  this  time  it should be pointed out  that  the  ST 
 doesn't  control  the Parsec like a  traditional  graphics  board: 
 rather,  it works as the I/O to it,  much like the Mega would  for 
 the Atari Transputer Workstation (which is certainly not available 
 here in the USA).   With all of this memory,  the Parsec can  then 
 perform some astounding feats:

     1024x768 with 8 bit planes (256 colors) from 16.8 million
       or 32768 colors per screen (using true 15 bit video).

      All  of these modes,  I might add,  are not for just  "still-
 shot" images, but are used for full fledged animation.  

      The  Parsec also comes standard with its own RS-232 and  SCSI 
 ports so that it will not hinder itself (or the ST, which probably 
 can't  be  hindered  by an expansion running  at  6.25  MIPS!)  by 
 relying on the ST's capabilities.

      Thus  far,  the  hardware looks  impressive,  but  the  first 
 question that comes  to mind was whether this expansion would have 
 any software to utilize these mind-boggling specifications.

      David  mentioned no less than FOUR (4) packages  planned  for 
 the Parsec.   One,  "Da Vinci",  is included free with the Parsec, 
 and  functions  as  a basic artist's program  which  exploits  the 
 Parsec's unique capabilities.

      "Topaz",  a  GEM  emulator,  will  permit it to  run  ST  GEM 
 applications  with little or no incompatibilities.   It  might  be 
 noted  that Calamus did NOT work on it in its present  state,  but 
 the "Topaz" programmer,  who is German,  is working with DMC (also 
 German) to insure compatibility between the two.  

 (NOTE:   Calamus has had problems with other expansions,  such  as 
 the  Fast  Technology Turbo 16.   I believe the problem  with  the 
 Turbo  16  was fixed,  so we can only hope that they  will  be  as 
 expedient with the Parsec!)

      "Chimera f/x" is a full featured package which takes up where 
 "Da  Vinci" ends.   "Chimera f/x" is designed to reproduce on  the 
 Parsec  the  traditional artists tools,  such  as  brushes,  pens, 
 pencils,  and  sketching tools.   It doesn't stop  there,  either, 
 because it even takes into account the amount of pressure  applied 
 to  the drawing tool and mimics the response it would have on  the 
 Parsec.   "Chimera f/x" also has another unique feature:   It will 
 function as the basis of other programs,  letting them utilize its 
 capabilities.  

      The next two programs do just that.   David described them as 
 a  "solid modeling program which can even import CAD-3D  files  or 
 Amiga  Sculpt 4D files" and a "fractal landscape  generator".   To 
 say  the least,  I was absolutely stunned by the possibilities  of 
 such a package...

      Also,  since video professionals need the ability to digitize 
 and  genlock  live images,  Elmtech is planning to  offer  both  a 
 digitizer and a genlock.   David didn't give me any details on the 
 genlock, but the digitizer sounds exciting.  It will be capable of 
 "grabbing 250,000 pixels in 8 bit video (256 colors) in real  time 
 (!)".  This, obviously, is not a toy. 

      According  to the August 1989 issue of ST World  (U.K.),  the 
 Parsec's  suggested  list price is  920.   Converted  to  American 
 dollars,  that  is  roughly $1500.   The exclusive North  American 
 distribution rights belong to Datel Electronics,  a large  company 
 that has a base of operations in both the U.S. and England.

      Finally, a typical STatus interview with a developer wouldn't 
 be quite right if we didn't get some kind of information about the 
 men behind the product.   David and I had a good laugh about  some 
 of  the  older  machines,  and  how we  grew  up  with  our  first 
 computers.   Mr. Encill's first computer was an Atari 400 with 16k 
 of RAM.   If you look at our developer profile in this issue,  Mr. 
 Michael  B.  Vederman of Double Click Software ALSO had his  first 
 experience with an Atari 400.  Perhaps there is something to that? 

      He  also  seemed  to be just as excited as I  was  about  the 
 Parsec,  and its prospects on the Atari ST.  I asked him about the 
 decision  to make it for the ST first,  and he said that the  main 
 reasons  were that "the ST was outselling the Amiga back  when  we 
 started on it, and the ST also lacked video support".  Seeing this 
 market as growing,  and empty in the vital area they could provide 
 a  product  in,  Elmtech  began working on the  Parsec  as  an  ST 
 expansion.  However, he did mention that it can be easily modified 
 to work on an Amiga or Apple Macintosh and that versions for those 
 machines will be (most likely) forthcoming.

 (NOTE:   We tried contacting Datel Electronics, 1-702-734-9100, in 
 Nevada  for more details.   After speaking to Richard  Ollins,  it 
 seems we've just broken this story just as things are  developing. 
 He confirmed that the agreement between Elmtech U.K. and Datel had 
 just  been completed,  but that it would be another two  or  three 
 weeks  until  Datel  received actual units in  order  to  properly 
 present  the product to the public.   They also mentioned that  it 
 will not be sold through dealers,  but direct from  Datel.   There 
 was  no  information  on  any  plans  for  developer  support   or 
 incentives through Datel for the Parsec,  and Richard referred all 
 inquiries to those effects to Elmtech, in England.)





  
                           STatus Disk Magazine
                             4431 Lehigh Road
                                 Suite 299
                          College Park, MD  20740

                          $30/6 issues = 1 year 
                         $20/3 issues = 6 months. 
           Please, make checks & MOs payable to Charles Medley.
                    Write for usergroup discount rates.







       _____________________________________________________________





 > DC'S BEST...CPU/STR Spotlight  Mike Vederman spills the beans..
   =============================



               Mike Vederman of Double Click Software
               ======================================


 by C. Medley


      I have been calling the Double Click BBS for about a month or 
 two,  during a period where I ran up a $220 phone bill calling not 
 only DC Software, but other BBSs  as well in the quest for hot and 
 late breaking news.

      I  also found myself in a quandary when trying to figure  out 
 what to include for our "mandatory" 400k of PD/Shareware  software 
 we  try to include each month.   As the quote goes,  "Ask  and  ye 
 shall  receive" so I asked Mike if we could use all that juicy  DC 
 software and he gave us the okay.

      However, in the process, I decided to pester him and the guys 
 at  DC for an interview.   After last issue's "fun fest" with  Jay 
 Craswell,  the  idea  of  revealing  the  programmers  behind  the 
 products as fun people,  not just bespectacled wonder kids who are 
 physically  attached  to  their machines,  seemed  more  fun  than 
 harassing some guy over what he was going to release next for  the 
 Atari ST...

      So,  I  corralled  Mike into an interview by  threatening  to 
 release photos of him and a dog as a joke.   Mike apparently  took 
 the  threat  very seriously,  because he gave  us  this  interview 
 <grin>.   I  think  the first question we ask is the key  to  this 
 entire interview.

                How did you get started programming?  
                ====================================

      "It is a complicated story.   How I started in  computers.  I 
 was  6  or 7,  and I grew up in Philadelphia and we  had  a  place 
 called  the  Franklin Institute which is like the  Smithsonian  in 
 D.C.  My parents took me there and they had a computer that played 
 tic-tac-toe about the size of a file cabinet.  I had a cousin with 
 me who I guess was about 4 or 5 years old,  and he was playing it, 
 and  he didn't hit the reset button right,  and instead of  giving 
 him a tie,  it said he had won.   People began to look to see this 
 little kid who had beat this computer,  but only a few of us  knew 
 he  had won by accident.   I was really interested in  the  things 
 after that..."

      "...Time wore on,  and I got in to video games.   Around  8th 
 grade a friend was taking a computer class,  and after school,  my 
 friend showed me a 110 baud teletype (TTY) they had..."

      "...A  few  months later,  I asked the  computer  teacher  to 
 borrow  these two orange books,  the BASIC User's Reference  Guide 
 and  BASIC Programming manual.   I must have had the  manuals  for 
 months,  and  I didn't have a computer so I tried to teach  myself 
 BASIC as best I could with the manuals..."

      "...Anyways,   the  first  time  I  got  in  trouble  with  a 
 computer...   There was a program a friend and I wrote.  There was 
 this REALLY nerdy guy we didn't like, so we made this program that 
 took  a word,  and made thirty sentences about this guy using  it.  
 We got into trouble......"

      "...Then  in  high school,  I guess around Junior  or  Senior 
 year,  my  Dad picked me up a Bally video game system  (NOTE:  for 
 those  not  in  the know,  this was one of the  early  video  game 
 systems  during  the  era of the  Atari  2600,  Intellivision  and 
 Odyssey  2)  with SmallBasic.   Before that I had  used  a  simple 
 Commodore  programmable  calculator  (NOTE:   Yes,  everyone,  the 
 Tramiels  used to make calculators at Commodore before  they  made 
 the VIC-20.  Even now, a few dealers probably have those new Atari 
 calculators in stock.   But anyways,  this is why they were called 
 Commodore Business Machines.   Calculators ARE business machines!) 
 and I used to convert games like Lunar Lander which were in  BASIC 
 to the calculator (YET ANOTHER NOTE: This is not a GRAPHIC version 
 of Lunar Lander!  This one used numbers!) and we used to play it a 
 lot...   I wrote a really crude "shoot-'em-up" game on the  Bally. 
 Basically,  this one drew all the graphics block by  block,  using 
 "POINT"  and "DRAW TO" commands,  and then  drew a little  Klingon 
 ship onscreen.  Then you shot at it and it shot at you and it kept 
 a  score for you and the Klingons.   The problem was,  the  cursor 
 wasn't  visible  because I had no idea of how to  draw  something, 
 erase it and redraw it somewhere else...."

      "...I went off to college,  saw a DEC-10/DEC-20 and I  didn't 
 program it, but they had a game like MegaWars on CompuServe that I 
 played  forever.   I knew I wanted a computer.   I started  a  job 
 working  with air conditioners....   I knew I wanted an  Atari  (8 
 bit),  since I wanted to do graphics.  I compared the Atari to the 
 Apple  ][  and the Apple had no sound except that  keyclick  sound 
 from  the machine,  and the Atari had great sound,  and the  games 
 looked alike,  so I bought an Atari 400.   I also got an Atari 410 
 tape  drive.   Then I got the AtariBASIC cartridge and I tried  to 
 program this great game concept I had,  and it locked up due to an 
 AtariBASIC bug.  So, this was back when Atari Customer Support was 
 incredible,  and  I  called  up Atari's 800 number  and  they  had 
 someone call me back who told me about the bug,  and they told  me 
 to save every few minutes.  It was very frustrating, and I stopped 
 programming for a while and played games..."

      "I also went to usergroup meetings for a while and the topics 
 seemed to float over my head, not because they were technical, but 
 they  assumed  you  knew a lot of stuff about  what  was  out.   I 
 stopped going for a while,  but I went back once around  Christmas 
 time  and there was this guy showing ACTION (NOTE:  Yep,  Mike  is 
 referring to a well known programming language for the Atari 8 bit 
 that in his own words  is  like  "a  cross between  Pascal  and C, 
 with  in-line Assembly",  and he said "I can't recommend this  to  
 anyone, because the manual and documentation is horrible...".  The 
 next  month,  he came in and said "Forget everything I  said  last 
 month....   This is the best language!" and demo'ed some stuff  he 
 wrote.   A few of the stores had specials on it and I got it  real 
 cheap.  The manual was difficult to grasp (at first).  I did a few 
 "do-nothing" programs.  Then I got an ST (this was a LOT easier to 
 get than my 400!).   Before I got the ST I had upgraded to an 800, 
 got a disk drive and a mono in 1984..."

      "...Anyways,  I got sick and thought about life.   I  decided 
 that I wanted to have no regrets in life.   I knew computers  were 
 my  calling.    I  decided  to  quit  my  job  working  with   air 
 conditioning,  and went back to school.   I had to wait a year  to 
 qualify for my government loan.   I used some of it to get my  ST. 
 It was a 520ST with a single sided drive.   Incidentally, I got it 
 from  the dealer who was the guy who demo'ed ACTION.   I got a job 
 with the computer center at school, which let me tell my family "I 
 *can* make money with computers!".  The first month I had an ST, I 
 got the GEM kit (developer's kit from Atari),  and I wrote "Mike's 
 RAM Disk", which was real popular for a while..."

      "...the following year I met Paul and Gilbert through a  user 
 group.   Actually, I met Gilbert through someone else before that. 
 Paul had done AC Modem using ACTION.   I did ST Modem,  put a  GEM 
 interface on it,  and called it ZenithTerm.   I guess it looked  a 
 little like ST-Term.   I programmed it in MegaMax C...   Paul then 
 wrote a background transfer program, DC Transfer, which let you do 
 uploads in the background and we put that out into Shareware.  And 
 then  somebody  got us to call ANTIC.   We signed a  contract  and 
 wound up working on Shadow for about a year.   Before that we  had 
 done "The Formatter".  People REALLY caught onto that.  We went to 
 a Dallas AtariFest and people recognized us not for ZenithTerm but 
 for   our  formatter!    "The  Formatter"  was  upgraded   to   DC 
 Formatter...  Dave Small began to distribute it with Magic Sac (DC 
 Formatter  is FREEWARE) and it became the de facto  formatter  for 
 the ST...   I guess about eight months later we did version 3.0 of 
 DC Formatter..."

      "...Our first commercial product was really DC Port.  Gilbert 
 designed it.  I've developed a great friendship with Tim Purves at 
 Michtron.   He  had  written  a multi-line BBS and  it  needed  an 
 interface  and I talked to him at a show.   We had a lot of  phone 
 calls and bounced ideas off each other... "

      "...When we came out with DC Utilities, we had a problem with 
 some  people  assuming they were Shareware and things  like  that. 
 It's probably because we've done so much.  When we launched it, we 
 called  up distributors and stores,  etcetera,  and about half  of 
 them  recognized us from our other stuff.   They would order  them 
 and it really wasn't that hard..."

      Now Mr. Vederman must Oblige us with a STatus Exclusive!
      ========================================================

      "Okay. Paul is working on putting Zmodem transfers in Shadow!"

      (Nah. We need something else. STatus needs more!)

                           Mike's Idea of Fun            
                           ==================

      "I like going tubing down the Rio Grande or the  Guadalupe... 
 All  you  do is tie a bottom to an innertube,  get some  beer  and 
 relax and drift..."

                   What do REAL Programmer's Eat?
                   ==============================

      "Coffee.  Anyone who knows me knows I love coffee!"

                    Major Events in Your Life   
                    =========================

      "I  hitchhiked to San Diego in college.  I was pi**ed  at  my 
 roommates for mooching off me.    I was at the University of Texas 
 I was tired of it.   I was went to San Diego,  slept on the beach,
 I was a bum for a week.  I met some really interesting people."


      Overall,  its  hard  to  talk to Mike  Vederman  and  not  be 
 impressed.   After  talking  to  him,  I think he's  the  type  of 
 programmer  I hope to develop into eventually.   He seems to  have 
 the necessary push and fearlessness to successfully stay alive  in 
 the  cut-throat  world of  computers.   During  the  interview,  I 
 couldn't  help  but  notice  a  few  similarities  between  Mike's 
 background  and  my  own,   particularly  in  the  ways  we  first 
 approached  computers (a BIG difference is that Mike is part of  a 
 "successful" software company.   ENiGMA Software,  my  (ad)venture 
 isn't  quite yet!).   He is an extremely straight-forward  person.  
 He also told me of a few exploits of his that would bear that out.  
 However, he did stress he was never above getting his hands dirty.  
 He is a member of a local user group in Houston and is the ST Vice 
 President because he likes to help other users.

      In  talking  to Mike,  I also realized that Double  Click  is 
 essentially a small company.   They consist of Paul  Lee,  Gilbert 
 Callaghan and Mike,  as well as a  "contracted"  programmer.   But 
 after  reading a "history" of Word Perfect Corp.,  and seeing  how 
 they  changed from a small company much like  Double  Click,  with 
 only  two  employees,  to  a multi-million  dollar  business  with 
 thousands  of employees in just ten years,  it makes  you  wonder.  
 Mike  seems to show the attitude to succeed so far:   he wants  to 
 branch  out into making more and more software,  and his  ultimate 
 goal  is  to be able to work a year or so on some other  ideas  he 
 has.   He  also  is thinking about producing  software  for  other 
 computers (no this isn't blasphemy and no DC is not leaving the ST 
 market!),  including the Atari 68030 machine,  the TT030/2,  which 
 Mike  is  very excited about (read last issues ComDex  article  by 
 Mike!).

      I would like to end this article by wishing Double Click  the 
 best  of  luck  during 1990,  and I hope that Mike's  dog  is  not 
 embarrassed by the photos!







           ____________________________________________________




 > STE & CURRENT S/W   CPU/STR FOCUS  Keeping things in perspective..
   =================================




     With the  recent  rash  of  "oh  boy"  type  articles  having appeared
 concerning the  STE, it became apparent that a more realistic view of this
 machine was needed and would actually be welcome.  The last thing  we need
 in the  ST arena  is more fodder for lemmings.  While the STE is a step in
 the right direction, it is about 2.5 years late.  Hopefully, the powers to
 be at  Sunnyvale will spend less time in front of a mirror (too much image
 consciousness) and more time planning to release a MEGA STE  with both the
 Mega buss  and the VME buss.. In the meantime, a little straight info goes
 a very long way....  By the way, TOS 1.6 does have  the routines  built in
 to handle a delay for the hard disks to get up to speed before booting the
 entire system.  In other words,  one power  switch does  it all.   The bad
 news is it may not work with certain drives including Atari's!



                    ATARI STE SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY

 As you  all know, the STe is now widely available in Canada. The unit used
 for testing was purchased for $994 ($830 U.S.).  The person performing the
 comparison sold their 1040 ST for $800.00, not a bad deal ...or is it?  As
 it turns out, the changes to the STe are significant enough to result with
 some serious software incompatibilities.  The following programs have been
 tested thoroughly and they will not run on the STe.

 1.   STOS Basic or STOS compiled programs. 2 Bombs
 2.   Flight Simulator II, goes into demo mode.
 3.   Gunship, 2 Bombs
 4.   High Roller, 4 bombs
 5.   10th Frame, Freezes
 6.   Supercycle, 2 Bombs

      An Edmonton dealer informed us that the following additional programs
      do not work:

 1.   Arkanoid                               2.   Sky Raiders
 3.   Pirates                                4.   LDW Power
 5.   Edit Track                             6.   LED Storm
 7.   Downhill challenge                     8.   Falcon (certain versions)
 9.   UIS II                                10.   UIS III 

     European software seems to  have a  bigger problem  at this  time as a
 good 33%  does not seem to like the STE or, could it be TOS 1.6?   TOS 1.6
 has a number of minor, but extremely annoying bugs:

 1.   Only boots in low rez when in color,
 2.   "SHOW/PRINT/CANCEL" box appears occasionally when attempting to run
      a ".PRG" program.
 3.   The "A" drive box with the file selector does not work when used
      from Calamus.

      The new control panel which you'll  have  to  download  from  a board
 works alright,  and it allows you to select any of the 4096 colors. I have
 noticed that colors with RGB numbers less than 4s (ie 444 and  below) look
 the  same  as  000  (ie  Black).  You  have to take your monitor apart and
 increasing the gains for RGB in your  monitor  to  be  able  to  see those
 colors.

      The 1040  STe case  is still  the same as ever (imagine trying to get
 PCDITTO 2 into this thing!) and things are even more deceptive considering
 that the  "e" in  STe on  the label is so small!  But don't be fooled. The
 blitter chip is there  and  it's  doing  wonders  to  almost  all  the GEM
 programs,  and   hopefully  software   manufacturers  will  upgrade  their
 programs to make them compatible with  the STe.   Atari  Canada apologized
 for the  lack of  compatibility and  said they  were confident  that a fix
 would be available soon!  That's odd. I'm not sure who is more to blame:

          The software company  who  made  assumptions  about  the hardware
          configuration of  the ST,  or Atari  for not making sure that the
          STe is compatible with the programs already in widespread use.  

 Sort of makes you wonder about how compatible  the TT  will be,  and if TT
 owners will care.  

     With all  the bugs associated with the STe, one has to wonder if Atari
 is not dumping the  first machines  on the  European/Canadian markets, and
 will  ship  "fixed"  machines  to  the  U.S.  when  they become available.
 Certainly it needs to be soon, as we all know,  our American  friends have
 waited far long enough.

      For the  people out there who want to know if their favorite programs
 will work on the STe, I have successfully tested the following:

     1st Word +        DEGAS Elite       Calamus          GFA Basic 2.0    
     Spectrum 512      Neodesk 2.0       Swiftcalc        Sundog
     Oids              Dungeon Master    Barbarian        Populous
     Sierra's Quests   Shanghai          Elite            Hostage
     Star Trek         Champ wrestling   Sidearm          Hardball
     Flying Shark      Moon Patrol       Joust            Xevious
     Time Bandit       World             Karate           Chessmaster 2000
     Falcon            Chrono Quest      Stereo Cad 3D    Arkanoid II
     Outrun            Touch-up          Silent Service   ST_Term
     Speedball         Test Drive.

 Is the STE worth the investment?  You bet it  is as  long as  you approach
 the situation  with an  open mind.   Forget about past dealings with Atari
 and/or your apprehensiveness concerning  the future.   The  machine itself
 will satisfy.





       ____________________________________________________________





 > PCD2 - Oh No! CPU/STR Spotlight     You want it when?????
   ===============================




                                             PCDitto II
                                             ==========


 by Chris Martin


      Of  all  the  unfavorable  messages  I  had  been reading on Genie, I
 thought, "This product has  some critical complications."  However, when I
 was approached  to buy  a PCDitto  II (PCD II) from a friend I said, "Sure
 why not, they (Avant-Garde, AG) should have the  complications figured out
 soon and have it performing accurately.  So I proceeded to purchase it.

      When I  was inspecting the contents of what was supposed to be in the
 box: 1) Warranty Card 2) User's Manual 3) Systems disk  4) PCDII Connector
 board 5)  Main Board  6) Interface  Cables 7)  Main board Insulator Pad 8)
 Coprocessor Jumper  wire; I  noticed that  the Warranty  Card was missing.
 Now,  from  remembering  what  people  had  said  on Genie, that was to no
 surprise.  Still skeptical, I pursued to go ahead and install this product
 in my Mega 2.  I read the very skimpy manual to make sure I did exactly as
 it prescribed. I removed the cover and shield of my computer to learn that
 a little half by half inch daughter board was soldered on top of the 68000
 chip.  Now what you're supposed to do is piggyback the Connector  board on
 to the  68000.  Looked like trouble.  Back to the manual I went, searching
 for what to do next.  I turned to the  'Installation Problems'  section to
 find  that  I  must  remove  this  daughterboard, set it elsewhere and run
 jumper wires from it back to the 68000; or purchase a PCD II Expansion Bus
 Connector  (which  I  haven't  seen  yet).    I  elected  to  desolder the
 daughterboard and set it aside.  Now, I could further the installation.

      I attached the insulator pad to the back  of the  Main board (approx.
 5" X  7"), and  the Coprocessor  jumper wire in a socket to pins 1 and 32,
 located on the Main board reserved for a 8087-1 numeric coprocessor.  Then
 I attached the PCD II Interface cables to the PCD II Connector board and I
 had to cross them over each other (below par) to  attach them  to the Main
 board.   I pursued to attach the PCD II Connector board to the 68000 while
 getting a very petty fit.  I tweeked all the connections with  this little
 bottle  of  clear  liquid  that  was  sent just to 'enhance' them. After I
 fitted the Connector board to the 68000, I laid the Main board  inside, on
 top of  the rest of the circuitry.  I noticed that the Connector board had
 worked its way upward on the legs of  the 68000.   With  those stiff bulky
 ribbon cables,  it's no  wonder.   So furthermore,  I had  to squeeze both
 ribbon cables and tape the excess together.   Still, I  didn't get  a good
 fit, but it was better than it was.

      I anxiously  assembled my  Mega 2  to try  out this new product I had
 just bought.  The  harddrive menu  came up.   I  thought, "Good,  it still
 works."   I wish I had never thought that, not so soon anyway.  I selected
 a couple of Auto folder programs to further the booting  process, and when
 the desktop  would just  get ready  to display,  the screen blanked.  "Now
 what", I wondered nervously. I disassembled the computer again to see if I
 had knocked  something loose  during the  assembly.   I visually inspected
 everything, but didn't notice anything faulty.  So,  I thought,  "Before I
 attach the covers back on, I'll just connect the power cord, harddrive and
 monitor  cables  and  see  if  it  will  work  now."  Still  nothing.    I
 disconnected the  ribbon cables  from the  Connector board and removed the
 Main board.  It still would not work.

      I made a phone call to a friend  in Florida  to see  what the problem
 could be.   He  graciously asked  me, "Is your blitter chip turned off?  I
 read somewhere that it had to  be off."   "What,  that has  to be  off?" I
 replied.   I then removed the Connector board, booted up, and with relief,
 the desktop displayed.  I saved a 'desktop.inf' file with the blitter off,
 re-attached the  Connector board  and the  Main board, turned the computer
 on, and the computer functioned properly this time.  Now, to boot  the PCD
 II program.

      I  first  ran  the  'PCD_Menu'  file  to  configure  the 'PCDitto II'
 program.  When I ran the PCD II program, a message appeared and told me to
 check  connections.    I  did,  and  everything appeared to be making good
 contact.  Now, from remembering what people had said on Genie, they had to
 solder the  Connector board  onto the 68000; I thought, "I better go ahead
 and do that."  After I carefully accomplished that task, I ran  the PCD II
 program, and  this time a message appeared, "Insert DOS disk in drive A:."
 "It works!" I yelled.

      I inserted the DOS  3.2 disk  in drive  A:.   After a  few seconds of
 reading the disk, it locked up.  "Now what!" I said to myself. I went back
 to re-read all the Genie messages  I captured,  and I  noticed that nobody
 else was  getting DOS  3.2 to  work either.  Only by using DOS version 3.3
 would it work.  So I had a friend come over that  had 3.3  to give  that a
 try.  The next thing I knew, I have an "A:" prompt. "WOW, NOW it works!" I
 proclaimed.  Now to see if any of the software I use in my job works.

      I proceeded to load up everything I had;  it all  worked.   My friend
 also brought  alot of different software (i.e. Harvard Graphics, Wordstar,
 Orcad, Dbase III+, Norton Utilities).  Everything  he  had  ran excellent.
 The running speed was excellent too. Norton's rating was 4.2; "Not bad", I
 thought.  I imagined, "I can have the best of both (ST & IBM) worlds now."

      It  appears  that  with  the  Connector  board  permanently installed
 (soldered),  it  will  increase  the  probability  of  working by, I would
 venture to say, 99%.  Everything on the  ST side  still functions properly
 too, so  far; as  long as the blitter chip remains off.  I am sure we will
 know more in the near future about what  is and  isn't compatible.   There
 are good  accelerator programs available to take place of the blitter, but
 still, I have it and I want to use it.

      As of  this writing,  AG proclaims  the problem  with its  PCD II not
 working with  DOS 3.2, or at all with other Atari ST's, is a timing change
 in the ST hardware.  They have a solution, but not sure whether it will be
 a change of a PAL chip on the Main board or a new software version.
      If you're  interested in  emulating an  IBM on your ST, then I highly
 suggest purchasing PCDitto II.  

      Yes, it has a slight problem right now, which AG is rectifying.  When
 I try  to turn on the blitter, the mouse just disappears.  Let's hope that
 we can use our blitter chips again, soon.   The  price couldn't  be better
 for what  it will  do.   For me, it was worth what I had to go through. If
 the manual would have stated some of the above problems and the solutions,
 life would have run smoother. 

                           ---------------------


                                                  Mon Feb 12, 1990

     AVANTGARDE
  
 Dear pc-ditto II owners,

     We are  happy to  announce we  have found the problem with pc-ditto II
 hardware not working with some STs.  We were correct about the  changes in
 timings of some machines being the heart of the problem and our correction
 widens the tolerance for machines with different timings.  We  can discuss
 our  findings  at  a  later  time  in  detail,  if there are any engineers
 interested.  For now, however,  the  following  describes  what  to  do to
 receive an update:

      1.   Correction involves  replacement of  two socketed  chips on your
          pc-ditto II board.   The chips  are labeled:   U27   GLUPAL (part
          TIB PAL 20L8-25CNT) and  U15  EMSPAL  (part TIBPAL 16R4-25CN).
   
      2.    Please,  carefully  remove these chips (a flat-edge screwdriver
          under the end of each chip works best).  CAUTION:  Please observe
          static  discharge   procedures  (as  noted  in  the  pc-ditto  II
          Installation Manual) to prevent damage to your board.

      3.  Then, wrap the two chips in a soft packing material and return to
          Avant-Garde Systems at the following address:

                            Avant-Garde Systems
                           381 Pablo Point Drive
                      Jacksonville,  Florida   32225

          (You  may  call  (904)  221-2904  9am  to 5pm Mon-Fri if you have
          questions.)

      4.  Please include your name and return address.

      5.  We will return two new replacement chips immediately  along with 
          instructions on replacing them.

 For owners with pc-ditto II that are already working, replacement of these
 two chips will not help you.   Therefore,  we would  not recommend "fixing
 your product if its not broken".

 We are  now working  on a blitter fix and standardized Mega expansion port
 fixture and will post a message soon about those items.

 (Also, if  you have  already called  or written,  you will  be receiving a
 letter concerning the above, as well).



 P.ANTHONY; posts,
  
 To AG:   For  those of  us who  have not  yet received  our pc ditto II's,
 what's
 the chance that they will already have replacement  chips on  them and how
 do we tell when we finally get our boards?  

                                                  Thanks, P.Anthony
  
 DCASTALDI; posts,
  
 To AG:  ditto (excuse the pun) P.ANTHONY's question concerning ditto's not
 yet received; will they have the fix?  p.s. I  mailed my  dittoII money on
 OCT. 4th,  has anyone  received their  ditto II  boards who  sent in their
 monies around that date? How close are we? thanx AG.

                                          Dennis Castaldi (dcastaldi)
  

 R.SCHNEEBERG [Rick-S]; posts,
  
 AVANTGARDE or JIM ALLEN:

 I have my clip soldered on and the entire board is already  in my machine.
 If I  remove these  two chips,  will I be able to operate my machine in ST
 mode until I receive the upgrade?

 AG, I do not understand why everyone has to mail  back these  chips to you
 prior  to  receiving  the  new  ones.    THIS IS NOT FAIR.  WE WAITED LONG
 ENOUGH!

                                                  Rick Schneeberg

 D.CHARTER; posts,
  
 Jim Allen/AvantGarde 
 Jim, With your background (and friendship with Bill), what do  you feel is
 the time  it will  require for  replacement chips to be available?  Do you
 think that PCDs shipping from now on will be updated?

 AVANTGARDE I concur  with  the  last  message.    How  about  shipping out
 replacement   chips, and  let the  users return  the defective ones.  This
 would greatly increase the speed that PCDs would  be repaired.   I realize
 you may  end up  sending replacements to a few that have operating boards,
 but  providing  the  new  chips  would  ensure  that  the  purchaser could
 transport PCD  to another  computer if  a later upgrade happened.  Are you
 ever going to address the size factor?  What machine was PCD tested in?

                                                             Duane.

 J.ALLEN27; posts,
  
 If I were AG, I'd send out replacement PALs to the people they shipped to.
 They must have records. For the life of me I can't imagine why they'd want
 a bunch of useless PALs back?  And  the  new  ones  don't  exactly  cost a
 fortune  either.  I  don't  know  if  removing  them will kill the system,
 someone should try before  doing it  just to  make sure.  It's not  like a
 bunch  of  people  are  out  here  trying to hoard PALs or something, what
 gives?



 Editor Note;
     This entire thing is  beginning to  sound like  a never  ending story!
 Please be  sure to  read the additional coverage concerning PC DITTO II in
 our CPU Confidential column.  This was late breaking news.



       ____________________________________________________________





 > SUPERCHARGER!!  CPU/STR Review   An in-depth review of Supercharger
   ==============================



                TWO solid in depth reviews of SUPERCHARGER!


 REVIEW I
 --------

                     SuperCharger -- Talon Technology
                     ================================



 by William Y. Baugh


     You've heard about it.   You've  read about  it on  GEnie, CIS  and in
 European magazines.  You've may have even dreamed about it.  Well finally,
 it is HERE!.  This 'it' is a  great new  IBM emulator  called SUPERCHARGER
 and it's  about to  take the ST market by storm (as soon as the Talon cuts
 through all of the FCC's bureaucratic red tape).  Believe me, when  I tell
 you, it will be fully worth the wait.

     SuperCharger is  not a  piece of  hardware that takes a person with an
 Electrical  Engineering  degree  hours  to  install;  SC  is  a tastefully
 packaged (Atari  gray!) stand-alone piece of hardware that should take you
 around two minutes to hook up (if you  take your  time).   SC plugs either
 into the  spare DMA  port of  your hard drive, if your hard drive supports
 it, or directly into the DMA port on your ST.  It's that simple.

     Setting  up  SuperChargers'  parameters  is  just  as  easy,  with the
 Utilities disk  included with  the package.  The only options that need be
 set are whether your color monitor runs at 50 or 60 Khz,  whether you have
 an  8087  math  co-processor,  invert  colors on monochrome and set up the
 parameters of your floppy and hard drives.  

     SuperCharger is powered by the NEC  V30 processing  chip which permits
 it to  run a  wide range of software including some pieces written for the
 AT, like Windows/286.   Using the  V30 is  practical and  very beneficial,
 since  it  is  totally  compatible  with  the  8086 processor and will run
 faster.   SC  will  also  support  an  8087  math  co-processor  for added
 computational speed.   One  drawback (maybe)  is that SC requires its' own
 memory, thus it comes in two options; 512K and 1 Meg.  The drawbacks occur
 in that  they should  have made  the smallest memory size 640K rather than
 512K.  When DOS  is  loaded,  it  only  leaves  around  380K  to  run your
 applications in.   This  is sufficient,  but some  larger applications may
 cause problems.  On the other hand, DOS can only  recognize 704K  of the 1
 meg available;  so you  have 300K  of memory  just sitting  idly by.  Also
 rumors written in the European magazines will most probably not come true.
 I ask the Talon Tech, Richard Betson, if the ST could use the extra memory
 sitting idle when SC is not in use as a RAM disk  or if  it could  use the
 V30 processor  as a  co-processor and he said negative, that SC works only
 in one direction.  But he did have  an interesting  idea, in  that you may
 set up  a RAM  disk the  size of your ST's available memory and MSDOS will
 recognize it!  That should definitely come in handy for  ST owners without
 a hard drive.  

     Since I have mainly been interested in the differing IBM emulators for
 application purposes; I have not tested any games on SC (if I want to play
 games,  why  would  I  choose  an  IBM  over my ST??).  So, I cannot state
 whether the  graphics move  fast or  whether this  game play  is better or
 worse than  on an XT.  On the other hand, the only resolutions you can get
 (currently) with SC is CGA and MDA; neither one gives you a real reason to
 want to  play games  on it.   O.k.,  on to the applications.  I ran Norton
 Utilities on SuperCharger and came up with a 4.2.  This is a little slower
 than others  ratings I've  seen, but  it may  depend upon  the systems its
 tested on.  (My system is an Atari Mega 2 with an ABCO 65 meg SCSI Seagate
 drive equipped  with an  ICD Host  Adapter)  My main reason for wanting to
 own an emulator is to run Borland's Turbo C.   Well, let  me tell  you, SC
 rips when  running and  compiling Turbo C; its incredible!  I've also been
 running   Ashton-Tates'    DBASE   III+,    Telemate   (a   communications
 package...yes, they  do support the serial port now, it is COM2!) and some
 PD utilities.  All run quite well.  Also, Talon has written their own BIOS
 and created  their own  systems fonts  which are quite attractive and very
 well done.  The Atari mouse is supported  as serial  port COM1,  and works
 well with all the applications that support it. 

     Some problems  however, have  arisen with my machine; namely hard disk
 access problems.  I think SC has a bit of  trouble working  with ICD's new
 caching software.   I've had cluster and FAT table problems when adding or
 deleting files in MSDOS.  After  discovering this,  I talked  with Richard
 Betson (SDACE)  again, and  he said  that it may also be that I am running
 the programs from a GEM partition rather than  a dedicated  DOS partition.
 I won't  hear from  him until  after this  review has  been printed; but I
 don't think this is a problem inherent in SC.  Another point  is that when
 you are  booting your  ST before gaining access to SC, come in as clean as
 possible; i.e., no auto programs or accessories that may sit out in memory
 and cause problems.  Other minor problems are being fixed as we speak; the
 most annoying one the present time is the  lack of  a '\'  key.   There is
 absolutely no  easy way  to get this character.  This a conversion problem
 from the European keyboard to the American keyboard.  The only other gripe
 I had is that SC does not come up in color when booted on a color monitor;
 you must give the MODE CO80 command to  bring up  the CGA  graphics.  Even
 programs that  run in color will not boot as such.  I'm sure a method will
 be worked out soon to either have it boot in color (by the utilities disk)
 or by  using the command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  Oh and one more thing,
 please write a  manual  guys!    When  people  buy  a  piece  of hardware,
 especially as potentially confusing as an emulator, much more is need than
 30 pages of xeroxed instructions.

      As stated before, SuperCharger  is  fantastic!    Also  the gentlemen
 behind Talon  Technologies, Mr.  Earl Miller  and Mr.  Ashley Miller, have
 been extremely helpful  (and  patient)  with  my  many  questions.   These
 gentleman are  very optimistic  that SC  will clear  FCC soon and ST users
 will  finally   have  a   fully  functional,   non-destructive  (ala  easy
 installation) and extremely fast IBM emulator.  



                             ---====000====---



 Review II
 ---------


                  SUPERCHARGER - THE PREMIER PC EMULATOR!
                  ======================================




 by Peter Szymonik


     Once in  a while,  an outstanding  product comes  out for the ST which
 puts the competition to shame, often the product gets little  or no notice
 until word  of mouth  spreads.   One such  product is the new SUPERCHARGER
 MS-DOS emulator.  SuperCharger is  truly  in  a  class  by  itself  and it
 promises to  leave other  MS-DOS emulators  in the dust.  Before examining
 SuperCharger in detail  I'll  devote  some  time  to  explaining  what has
 happened in the past year.  Quite a few people are confused about where we
 stand in terms of MS-DOS emulation on the ST and  are wary  about plunking
 down cash for something which has been rumored to be iffy at best.

     A few  years ago,  Avant Garde  Systems of  Florida paved  the way for
 MS-DOS emulation  by  introducing  a  software  based  emulator, pc-ditto.
 Because this  emulator was software based, it was painfully slow at times,
 but it did prove that MS-DOS could be successfully run on an ST.  The slow
 speed was  an obvious drawback and it was clear that if emulation was ever
 going to achieve XT/AT speeds, it would have  to be  done with  a hardware
 emulator.   Avant Garde was the first to come forward with an announcement
 that they were working on an internal add-on board for the ST  which would
 run MS-DOS  software at  a Norton  factor of  roughly 3.0 which is near AT
 speed.  Of course, then came  the  dreaded  wait.    As  the  Teals worked
 throughout  last  summer  their  PC-Ditto  II  emulator,  the  Smalls were
 simultaneously working on Spectre GCR, the  outstanding Mac  emulator.  It
 looked as  if by  the end  of 1989  (the "great"  Year of Atari) ST owners
 might just have the best of three worlds!  With  Spectre GCR  and PC-Ditto
 II we  would be  able to  run both  MS-DOS and  MacIntosh programs at full
 speed on our ST's (in  addition  to  all  the  fantastic  ST  software out
 there.)     Our  machines  would  be  the  envy  of  the  computer  world!
 Unfortunately, while Spectre GCR graced our cartridge ports and filled our
 screens  with  happy  Mac  faces  by  the Fall, PC-Ditto II was nowhere in
 sight.

     Murphy's Law hit Avant  Garde full  force.   Months passed  before the
 first boards  arrived at  Avant Garde from its manufacturer, and then much
 to their horror, the boards were full of  defects.   The boards  had to be
 scrapped  and   they  had   to  start  all  over  again  and  find  a  new
 manufacturer.  In addition,  Avant Garde  also had  a hard  time trying to
 find a  company that  could produce  its custom-designed  ribbon cable and
 clip.  Meanwhile the competition was not standing still.

     Two European companies were  working  on  emulators  of  their  own. A
 German made  emulator, PC-Speed,  was the first to hit the American shores
 and is marketed by Michtron.  It follows the same basic PC-Ditto II design
 and is  an internal  add-on board, but unlike PC-Ditto II which clips onto
 the 68000 chip, PC-Speed has to  be  soldering  directly  onto  the 68000.
 This is not an easy task, it should only be done by a competent dealer.
 PC-Speed was attractive because it was available and it worked and it also
 ran at a  faster  Norton  rating  of  4.0,  not  a  necessarily noticeable
 difference, but  it was  faster.   Some people waiting for the PC-Ditto II
 board jumped ship to PC-Speed.  But the cost was steep, PC-Ditto  II lists
 at $299,  but Avant-Garde mailed 50% discount coupons to registered owners
 of the original pc-ditto, so total  cost  to  these  customers  came  to a
 little over  $150. PC-Speed  is much  more expensive,  a cool  $399!  As a
 result, most people stuck it out and continued to wait for PC-Ditto II.

     Welcome to 1990!  News  started  to  come  out  of  Florida  that yes,
 PC-Ditto II was finally shipping!  But the euphoria died almost as soon as
 it started.  Message bases on GEnie and  CompuServe were  soon filled with
 posts from angry customers.  Quite few of the PC-Ditto II boards were sent
 out without manuals or  warranty  cards,  other  people  were  missing the
 software, and  the worst  was yet to come.  1040 and 520 owners discovered
 that there  would be  no way  to internally  install the  huge PC-Ditto II
 board inside their machines, it was a physical impossibility.

     Mega  owners  who  thought  they  were  spared are finding that custom
 designed ribbon cable and clip doesn't want to stay on the 68000  and many
 had to  restore to  soldering the  clip onto the 68000. Not only that, the
 board refuses to work with the  blitter  chip!    For  many  customers, no
 matter  what  they  did,  the  board  just  would  not  work.  Avant Garde
 constantly left their phone  off the  hook and  mail sent  to them  on the
 networks  was  left  unanswered.  Their  official  response was limited to
 announcing that they were aware of the problem and were working on a fix.

     {Avant Garde has recently  acknowledged the  problems with  it's board
     and a fix is said to be on the way.  The problem apparently involves a
     timing problem with some ST's  and  the  solution  may  simply involve
     replacement of  two of  the socketed chips on the board and a revision
     of the software.  Unfortunately  this  doesn't  solve  the  problem of
     fitting the board inside a 1040 or 520!}

     But the  second European emulator was on the way and this one would be
 very different.  SuperCharger has arrived  in  the  United  States  and it
 promises  to  be  a  very  attractive  alternative to both PC-Ditto II and
 PC-Speed.   SuperCharger is  very different  from the  other two emulators
 because it doesn't require internal modifications of any kind.

     SuperCharger is  completely housed in its own external case.  The case
 is a bit wider and little shorter than an external Atari floppy  drive and
 its made  from high  impact plastic  and is color co-ordinated to the ST's
 case.  It comes with four  removable plastic  feet and  depending on where
 you slide  the feet  into the  case, you  can either stand the case on its
 side or lay it flat, nice touch!

     Installation is simple, SuperCharger can literally be set  up in under
 five  minutes.    The  unit  is  connected  to  the ST's SCSI port using a
 standard DMA cable.  Since  it  has  a  through  port,  it  can  be easily
 daisy-chained  along  with  your  hard  drive and laser printer and placed
 anywhere on the SCSI  chain.    (Although  Condor/Talon  highly recommends
 placing  SuperCharger  at  the  end  of  the  chain  to  prevent  possible
 conflicts.)

     SuperCharger is factory preset to  SCSI  3,  but  this  can  be easily
 changed  by  opening  the  unit  and  moving  a plastic jumper - the whole
 operation should take less than ten minutes.  Once connected, SuperCharger
 is completely  transparent and will in no way affect the operation of your
 ST.  The only warning is  that SuperCharger  must remain  on at  all times
 while you're  using your ST or else other devices on the SCSI port may not
 operate properly.  Simply put, turn the unit on and forget about  it until
 you want to use it!

     The power  cable is  innovative and a model of simplicity.  Originally
 SuperCharger  came  with  a  power  transformer.     Not   only  was  this
 cumbersome,  it  also  occupied  a precious power outlet. Condor/Talon was
 quick to respond and  replaced  the  transformer  with  a  unique splitter
 cable.   One end of the cable connects to the SuperCharger while the other
 end has two mouse connectors.  You simply plug the splitter cable into the
 mouse port  on the  keyboard and  then connect  the mouse  to the splitter
 cable, that's it!   This leaves  a small  thin cable  running out  of your
 keyboard and  knee-top typing will be a bit more difficult.  But the cable
 is long enough so it can be run nicely under the computer out of  sight to
 the back of SuperCharger.

     If you're  like me  and the  keyboard spends  99% of  the time on your
 desk anyway, this won't be a problem.  An added bonus is that the splitter
 cable comes  in handy  if you want to attach a joystick to the mouse port,
 no more flipping over the keyboard to replace the mouse!

     Inside SuperCharger  is a  NEC V30  central processor  running at 8Mhz
 with 512K  RAM to  play with.   You  read right, instead of relying on the
 ST's internal memory, SuperCharger comes with its own  internal RAM cache!
 With the cache and SuperCharger's 'hot key' function, it's possible to run
 an MS-DOS program and  instantly switch  back into  ST mode,  hit the keys
 again and your back in MS-DOS mode - exactly where you left off!  The 512K
 memory is also easily  expandable up  to 1-meg,  simply open  the unit and
 plug in  the extra  chips, (if  only Mega  2's were so easy!)  As with any
 memory upgrade, just keep on eye on the  speed of  the chips  you install.
 SuperChargers are designed to use chips of 120ns or better, mine came with
 very fast 70ns chips. Just be sure to chips with  the same  speed as those
 in your unit and you won't have any problem.

     On SuperCharger's  motherboard there is also a socket for an 8087 math
 co-processor chip.  Plug in an  Intel  8Mhz  8087  and  your spreadsheets,
 DTP, graphics,  and other number crunching MS-DOS programs will fly!  Over
 to  one  side  of  the  board  is  an  expansion  port  which  will allows
 SuperCharger to be quickly and easily upgraded! (See below...)

     SuperCharger  comes  with  an  excellent Utility Disk and MS-DOS 4.01.
 The Utility's disk allows you to fully customize the software according to
 your set  up.   It includes and MS-DOS disk formatter and even a step-rate
 menu option for those of you with 5 1/4 inch  drives.   And yes,  you read
 right again,  MS-DOS 4.01  is included  at no  extra charge!!   This alone
 would cost over $100 if you had to buy it  separately (and  with the other
 two  emulators,   you  do...)     You're   not  limited  to  4.01  either,
 SuperCharger will run just fine with any version of MS-DOS.

     My SuperCharger is one of the first production units and  it came with
 a xeroxed  manual and  version 1.10  of the  Utility disk.  Enclosed was a
 letter explaining that the demand for  SuperCharger forced  the company to
 release the  unit slightly ahead of schedule and as a result they were not
 able  to  furnish  a  properly  bound  manual.    But  by   returning  the
 registration  card,  a  new  bound  manual  and  the latest version of the
 Utility software (currently 1.21) will be sent to you free of charge.  You
 will  also  be  automatically  registered  to  receive all future software
 updates.

     SuperCharger support MS-Windows  286  with  version  1.21 SuperCharger
 offers full  serial port  and mouse  support.   The mouse port is setup as
 COM1 and the  serial  port  as  COM2,  use  the  proper  mouse  driver and
 SuperCharger will  turn your  ST mouse into a fully functioning and smooth
 MS-DOS mouse!  SuperCharger works great with both ST monitors.  I find the
 mono display to be sharper and easier to read than the screens offered the
 other emulators.  SuperCharger  emulates MDA,  CGA, and  Hercules graphics
 modes.   Color is  bright, vivid, and rock solid, the software also allows
 you to set your  screen  for  50Mhz  or  60Mhz  so  you  can  run European
 software just fine!

     Remember the  expansion port  I mentioned  above? Already in the works
 and due out in April or May is a VGA  card for  SuperCharger!   The screen
 displays are  already great,  with the  VGA card they will be spectacular!
 Condor reports  that this  card will  be comparable  in cost  to other VGA
 cards currently out on the market.  So how does it work?  Turn on the unit
 and hold down SuperCharger's reset button, boot your system and  let go of
 the reset  button when your screen lights up, SuperCharger is now ready to
 go!

     Although not required, its best to  create a  small partition  on your
 hard drive  for MS-DOS  to sit in for super-fast booting into MS-DOS mode.
 For some reason, this partition  cannot  be  accessed  from  TOS  once its
 created, if  you do  try to  access it  from TOS,  the files there will be
 destroyed.  The key here is  to format  the partition  you want  MS-DOS to
 reside in  using the  Utility software  and copy  MS-DOS 4.01  to it, then
 remove  the  partition's  icon  from  the  desktop  to  prevent accidental
 access.    MS-DOS  will  regard  this  partition  as  the  boot  partition
 regardless of where it actually sits  in TOS  mode.   So if  you turn your
 "G:"  partition  into  your  MS-DOS  partition,  in MS-DOS mode it will be
 regarded as the "C:" drive with  all your  other partitions  following one
 letter "forward".

     What  SuperCharger  does,  is  use  the  MS-DOS  partition as the boot
 partition and  it  then  addresses  all  your  TOS  partitions  one letter
 "forward one".  Sounds confusing, but it isn't.  This may help visual it:

             TOS:      MS-DOS emulation:

              C:    ------>   D:
              D:    ------>   E:
              E:    ------>   F:
              F:    ------>   G:
             <G:>   ------>   C:


     Because all  that really needs to be in the MS-DOS partition is MS-DOS
 itself, this partition can realistically as small as 1 meg (but check your
 formatting software  to be  sure you can create a partition under 5 megs.)
 You can place  your  MS-DOS  program  files  anywhere  on  your  drive and
 SuperCharger will run them just fine even if they are in a TOS partition.

     The Utility  software can also be run from anywhere on your hard drive
 and it automatically determines what type of monitor  and drives  you have
 connected,  but  you  have  the  option  of changing the settings.  Simply
 double-click the ABIOCON.PRG program and in seconds you're in MS-DOS mode!

     SuperCharger works flawlessly, Test Driver II, Jet, and  Speedball all
 work  great.    Productivity  software like WordPerfect 5.1 (the latest!),
 WordStar, Lotus  1-2-3, PlanPerfect  5.0, PC-Write,  and Dbase  IV all ran
 without  a  hitch!    In  all  honesty,  I have yet to find a program that
 *won't* run  on  SuperCharger.    (Actually,  Norton  Utilities  won't run
 properly,  but  that's  because  Norton  doesn't  like  MS-DOS  4.01 - not
 SuperCharger, Norton works fine on SuperCharger under MS-DOS 3.3!)

     SuperCharger has  passed  its  FCC  certification  and  should  now be
 shipping here in the States. This a first rate product backed by a company
 that has been supporting  the ST  for years  and who  will do  so for many
 more. SuperCharger lists for $399 and for that price you get:

          - The SuperCharger unit with 512K RAM,
                  expandable up to 1Meg
          - MS-DOS 4.01
          - Condor/Talon's Utility software disk
          - A nice bound manual
          - The DMA and splitter cables
          - Unlimited software upgrades
          - A socket for an 8087 math co-processor chip
          - An expansion port for future upgrade boards
                  (VGA board due in April/May)

     This  is  an  outstanding  price  compared  the  other  two emulators,
 especially considering the added expense of dealer installation  and other
 problems.   I've dealt  with both Talon Industries and Condor Computer and
 they've been a pleasure to work with.  These companies are dedicated  to a
 top-quality product and it shows.  One of the goodies planned for the next
 software update  is  the  ability  to  access  the  ST's  RAm  as  well as
 SuperCharger's, allowing  expanded memory  operations!   The '286 I use at
 work doesn't even have that!

     Because   of   it's   simplicity,   ease   of    use,   compatibility,
 expandability,  and  the  company's  dedication to continually support and
 build on this emulator, I give SuperCharger my highest recommendation.  If
 you have any questions about SuperCharger, feel free to drop me a line!

     Peter  Szymonik  GEnie:  DIPLOMACY-1  CompuServe:  72637,2272  UseNet:
                                                  xorg@cup.portal.com


          SuperCharger

          United States                     United Kingdom
          -------------------------         ------------------------
          TALON TECHNOLOGY INC.             Condor Computer Ltd.
          243 North Highway 101             2 Bacchus House, Calleva Park
          Suite 18                          Aldermaston
          Solana Beach, California          Berkshire. RG7 4QW
          Tel. 619-792-6511 VOICE           Fax  011-44-0734-819791
          Tel. 619-792-9023 FAX             Tel. 011-44-0734-810066






     ________________________________________________________________




 > NEODESK CPU/STR Spotlight      Gribnif sure is busy....
   =========================



     For those of you  who haven't  gotten your  official Gribnif (NEODESK)
 newsletter yet, here's a sneak preview of the features in the next version
 of Neodesk.  ALL Rez support (LOW rez too) 100% Custom windows meaning.

 NEW Features
 -==========-
   a) Split windows allowing you to show 2 different parts of the
       same directory

   b) Select all button allowing you to select all items in a 
       window. (even the ones that don't fit in the window)

   c) Background windows (non-selected) can now be resized, full-
       sized, moved, closed, etc. just like the top window

   d) Each window can independently display text or icons allowing
       you to mix text windows and Icon windows on the same screen
       Also each window can have it's own sorting, and text type.

   e) Ability to select and keep selected items which are not in 
       the visible window contents

   f) Ability to change the display fonts used by NeoDesk.

   g) Faster file sorting (visible when opening windows & folders)

   h) Complete file search functions

   i) Ability to place a folder on the desktop (and then copy or
      move files to it or open it like a disk drive).

   j) Redone in Borland's Turbo C for smaller size and faster
      speed.

   k) Enhanced compatibility.

     And just when you all thought NeoDesk couldn't get much better!







       _____________________________________________________________






 > DynaCADD 1.7 CPU/STR Review   When only the best will do
   ===========================



                           DynaCadd  Vs  AutoCad
                           =====================

 Part IV
 -------


 by Myles Goddard



       In this segment of our comparison of DynaCadd and AutoCad it must be
 remembered that  even though both programs use the same entities, they are
 sometimes called by different names.  As we come across  them, I  will try
 to point  out the  differences and  similarities.  As I pointed out in our
 first installment, both AutoCad and DynaCadd have hundreds  of commands to
 learn.   I find  the learning process much easier with DynaCadd because of
 the visual interface of GEM and the extremely  well thought  out icons for
 the commands  used in it.  AutoCad has drop down menus, which help quite a
 bit, but on my  640K AT,  it accesses  the hard  drive frequently  when it
 needs to  display them.   This  can be irritating, at times, but necessary
 when you have a limited amount of RAM like I do.  DynaCadd uses just about
 all the  memory a 1040 can muster so therefore allows almost instantaneous
 access to drop downs.  DynaCadd has online help that is instantly accessed
 by hard  drive and  is even  fast when  run from  floppy.  Anyway, back to
 work......

       For novices unaccustomed to  drafting terminology,  we will  go into
 the basic terms used in these CADD packages.  Let's begin.

       The  Entity  is  the  basic  drawing object.  It consists of points,
 lines, circles, arcs, fillets,  ellipses, elliptical  arcs, text, b-spline
 curves, Bezier curves and solids.

       The DynaCadd  book is  an enormous source of information as it gives
 detailed examples of the basics of Drafting Theory in regards to 2D and 3D
 drawings.  It explains the user coordinate system, which is called the UCS
 in AutoCad but is  referred  to  in  DynaCadd  as  the  GCP,  or Geometric
 Coordinate Planes.   The  GCP's contain  seven predefined GCP's.  They are
 the TOP, FRONT, RIGHT, BOTTOM, REAR,  LEFT  and  ISOMETRIC.    A  LAYER is
 simply  a  clear  sheet  of  electronic  "paper".  In other words, say for
 example you want to draw some plans that include the walls, electric wires
 and plumbing.   You  would need  your basic  sheet of  paper, on which you
 would draw your basic floor plan. The you get a  clear sheet  of mylar and
 overlay the  paper with  it.   Then you would draw your electric wiring on
 the mylar.  Then you add another clear piece of mylar and on it  you would
 draw your  symbols for  the plumbing. Well, its the same way with DynaCadd
 and Autocad.  Only instead of having physical  sheets laying  all over the
 place, it  is done  for you electronically.  If you make a mistake on your
 paper, you have to physically erase and redraw  it again.   With DynaCadd,
 hit the  UNDO key  and VIOLA,  your mistake  is erased  for you.  DynaCadd
 offers 256 layers, each of which can be turned "on" or "off".  It makes it
 a  whole  lot  easier  to  do  it  on  a computer.  To change a layer with
 DynaCadd, you simply move to the LAYER icon and click the mouse.   Easy as
 pie, isn't it?

       The user  interface of  DynaCadd is extremely easy to use and like I
 said before, if you are familiar with the ST GEM interface, you  will have
 no problems  whatsoever.   As an  alternative to  using the mouse, you may
 input your commands via the keyboard, although why in the  world would you
 not  want  to  use  the  mouse?      Another neat feature is the drop down
 calculator that appears when you need to input some numeric  values.  When
 the calculator  appears, you simply use the keyboard to input your numbers
 or point with the mouse to the appropriate number.   After you  hit return
 or click  on the return icon on the calculator, it performs the operation.
 Another important feature is the Command History Screen.  This keeps track
 of all  the commands  you have entered since the beginning of the session.
 This is a handy feature in case  you  want  to  look  back  at  a previous
 operation or  series of commands you entered.  The online documentation is
 a lifesaver when the book is not handy and you need to  look up  a command
 or something.

       The next  section will  be difficult to illustrate because the icons
 are a bit difficult to describe but I will attempt it.

    Here we go-

       You will notice that  the  drawing  area  is  bordered  by  a shaded
 rectangle.   The first  icon, the  BUFFER icon, is two monitors and can be
 clicked on to one monitor.  The reason for this is that  since many owners
 of 1  meg ST  need all the available memory for their drawings, this gives
 you the option of either having a rapid screen refresh or a  slower screen
 refresh but  gives more memory for the drawing.  Those fortunate folks who
 have MEGAS generally have  enough  memory  to  have  the  screen refreshed
 rapidly. I  get by  just fine with the one monitor icon.  The icon next to
 the BUFFER is the SHOWCOM icon, which when clicked by  the mouse  or keyed
 in with the "tab" key brings up the command history.

       There is  nine drawing  modifiers to  the right of the SHOWCOM icon.
 These control the ZOOMs in the display.  The first one is called DZEXTENDS
 and displays  the full database area.  The next icon is the DZLAST command
 zooms to the previous  zoomed view.   It  is equivalent  to Autocad's ZOOM
 PREVIOUS command.   The  next icon  represents DZIN  which is simply a two
 fold zoom on any area you select with crosshairs.  The DZOUT  command does
 the reverse  of DZIN  and reduces the zoomed view by a factor of two.  The
 DZALL command zooms the entire drawing into the drawing screen  area.  The
 DZWINDOW command  lets you  adjust the size of the zoom by using a window.
 Just hit  the left  button to  activate the  starting point  and click the
 right button  when you  have selected  your area  to zoom in on.  The next
 icon (SCROLL)  allows  you  to  move  the  drawing  across  the  screen by
 selecting the  starting point  and then  dragging it  to another location.
 The equivalent command in Autocad is called PAN.   The  next icon (CENTER)
 allows you to center any part of the drawing by selecting a point with the
 crosshairs.

       The next icon (REPAINT) will  redraw  edited  entities  for  you. In
 other words,  after you have edited your drawing, there will be areas that
 will be missing.  Actually they  are  not  missing,  it's  just  that they
 aren't visible  until they are repainted.  Autocad's equivalent is REDRAW.
 The next icon  (REGEN)  repaints  the  entire  drawing  instead  of edited
 entities.   REGEN is  also Autocad's name for the same function.  The mode
 select icon is represented by two  boxes, one  with a  "2D" and  the other
 with a  "3D".  This allows you to switch between two dimensional and three
 dimensional drawings. Finally we come to the UNDO  icon.   It is  handy to
 use when  you have  made a  mistake and  want to delete the last operation
 performed. DELETE will erase everything in sequential order  from the last
 to the first.

       Our next  installment will  cover the drop down menus, which cover a
 great deal of material so it may take  a couple  of installments  to cover
 them all.  Until next time.....

                                           




      ______________________________________________________________



 > Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire
   ===========================


                                                    THE TICKERTAPE
                                                    ==============

 by Michael Arthur

 Concept by Glenn Gorman


       Atari  Stock  went  down  1/4  of  a  point  on Monday, and was down
 another 1/8 of a point on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, Atari Stock  went up 1/8
 of a  point.   Finishing up  the week at 6 7/8 points, Atari stock is down
 3/8 of a point from the last report.


    Apple Stock was down 1/2 of a point from Friday, February 2, 1990.
           Commodore Stock was down 1/4 of a point from 2/02/90.
                IBM Stock was up 5 1/4 points from 2/02/90.


               Stock Report for Week of 2/05/90 to 2/09/90

 _________________________________________________________________________
 STock|    Monday    |   Tuesday   |  Wednesday | Thursday  |   Friday    |
 Reprt|Last      Chg.|Last     Chg.|Last    Chg.|Last   Chg.|Last    Chg. |
 -----|--------------|-------------|------------|-----------|-------------|
 Atari|  7     - 1/4 |6 7/8   - 1/8|   7   + 1/8|    ----   |    6 7/8    |
      |              |             |            |           | 39,100  Sls |
 -----|--------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------------|
  CBM |8 3/8    + 1/8|8 3/8    --- |8 3/8   --- |    ----   |    8 1/2    |
      |              |             |            |           | 45,200  Sls |
 -----|--------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------------|
 Apple|  35     + 1/4|34 3/4  - 1/4|33 1/4      |    ----   |   34 1/4    |
      |              |             |      -1 1/2|           |1,500,700 Sls|
 -----|--------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------------|
  IBM |99 1/8  +2 1/2| 101   +1 3/8|101 1/8     |   ----    |   102 1/2   |
      |              |             |      +2 1/8|           |1,265,400 Sls|
 -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------'

      'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day.
      'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation.
      '----' means that stock prices were not obtained for that day.




  ______________________________________________________________________



 > A.U.A. CPU/STR InfoFile   Atari Users Association News...
   =======================



                                        CURRENT EVENTS -  A.U.A.
                                        ========================


 by Derek C. Signorini


      In keeping with the tradition of my past few articles  concerning the
 activities of  the AUA,  I once again must report good news concerning the
 Atari User's Association and the latest developments.

      Applications to the AUA are rolling in at a good pace.  I have really
 only made  contact of  readers of  CPU Online  and several people on GEnie
 where I uploaded  the  AUA  information  package  and  application  and it
 appears as  though the  people who  read this  publication are passing the
 information on to friends and user  groups.   Please continue  to do this,
 since many  ST users  are without  modems and  are unable  to call the pay
 services and do not download this  publication.   Once the  information of
 the AUA  passes down  the channel,  the group  will grow faster than first
 anticipated.  Thank you all for passing on the word  of the  AUA and  in a
 few short weeks I will be able to provide more concrete information on the
 group.

      I am proud to announce that  Jon  Clarke,  of  New  Zealand  has been
 appointed  International  Public  Relations  Director  for  the AUA and is
 helping the New Zealand Chapter of the AUA get off of the ground.   He has
 a lot  support boiling  up in his country mainly from the large amounts of
 user groups there.  The Wellington  Atari Computer  Enthusiasts (WACE) are
 helping Jon and myself by encouraging it's members to join the AUA and are
 in full support of our efforts.  Keep up the good work gentlemen,
 and congratulations again to Jon for his appointment.

      Also, on the home front for the AUA,  I have  appointed Anthony Parry
 as US  Public Relations  Director for the AUA.  Tony is a long time friend
 and an ST enthusiast and is  very knowledgeable  and has  many connections
 throughout the  software manufacturing  industry and will be a great asset
 to the AUA drive.  Tony will be helping me to contact the Usergroups
 throughout the USA and  will  also  help  me  to  negotiate  with software
 vendors.

      The AUA  has also  gained the  endorsement of  Plexus Systems Limited
 from Texas and the UK.   Tommy J.  Harvey contacted  me this  week and has
 given encouragement  and support.   Plexus  Systems Limited is involved in
 Beta-testing hardware and software for the Atari ST  in the  US and United
 Kingdom.  Welcome aboard, Tommy!

      In the  past few days I found time to start working on a logo concept
 for the AUA and  began putting  together a  printed flyer  and application
 that will  be distributed  at user shows and by Microtyme Computers.  This
 logo will become the official logo of the AUA and  I am  sure that  all of
 you will  approve.  I am also working on a special video tape that will be
 sent to the usergroups about the AUA and can be shown at the usergroup
 meetings.  Hopefully, this video will get more usergroups involved  in the
 AUA.  No release date has been set for that video at this time.

      I am  now planning  on attending the Atari show in Toronto during the
 first week of April.  Right now, details are very sketchy, but I hope this
 will  be  the  AUA's  first  public  appearance in 1990.  When the details
 become available, I will pass this information  on  to  you.    I  am also
 planning on  attending the Washington show in October.  This is a definite
 appearance and the only  one that  I am  absolutely planning  on attending
 this year.   If  other shows come up this summer, I hope to attend them as
 well.  In addition to the AUA, I  work full  time as  a pharmacist  and am
 also an  Atari Developer,  so time  is very critical here!  I wish I could
 extend the hours of a day by about 24, then  maybe I  could get  more work
 done!   But for now, I must work with what little time I have and make the
 best of it.

      At this time, I am looking for ideas  for a  name of  the printed AUA
 newsletter.  I have had "THE AUA NEWS JOURNAL" and "AUA NEWSBRIEFS" thrown
 at me by some locals, but I would  like some  input from  the AUA members.
 Send me  mail or  E-Mail with  your ideas!  Remember, members (say that 10
 times fast), this is your organization.  This is your  opportunity to help
 out!  I am also looking for writers to contribute to this newsletter.  The
 first publication  will be  in April,  so if  you want to send in letters,
 reviews, etc, then send them now.   You  may send  them in  any format you
 wish, but I would prefer if you would email articles to me or send them on
 disk.  If the articles or letters are small, just send me  a printed copy,
 since my wife is eager to brush up on her typing!

      That just about raps it up.  I will be writing about every other week
 for CPU Online, so watch for latest updates here or on GEnie.  Keep up the
 good  support,  and  I  invite  all  of  you  who  have  not  sent in your
 applications to do so!  Thank you all for your continued support!


                                                  Derek C. Signorini
                                                       AUA Coordinator


     GEnie:  DC.SIGNORINI 
     CIS  :  72327,1060 
     FNET :  node #19, DC Signorini 
     FIDO :  1:129/96 or Private net 30323/2, DC Signorini 






       _____________________________________________________________



             ATARI USER'S ASSOCIATION === MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES
        ========================================================
        PACKAGE ONE:     ACTIVE AUA MEMBERSHIP W/DISK --  $15.00
        ========================================================
 Includes one year membership to  the  Atari  User's  Association  and Disk
 Subscription to the Atari Elite Electronic Chronicles.

         Your benefits: 

 o   Subscription to the Atari Elite Electronic Chronicles, the newsletter
     on  disk  sent  6  times  a  year. Contains the newest in PD software,
     reviews, columns,  advertising,  etc...  Compare  this  to  the $79.00
     subscription fee to some magazines!

 o   Subscription to the AUA newsletter published (projected) 4 times a
     year. 

 o    Enhanced  Access time  on the Atari Elite, Inc. BBS supporting 19,200
     baud, 120 megs online, FIDO, and FNET.

 o   Special purchase prices available from the backing of the Atari Elite,
     Inc. of Pittsburgh.  Numbers have Power!  Pick up some good deals!

 o   Special group discounts at MICROTYME

 o   Special purchase prices offered by the AUA.  Once again, numbers talk!

 o    Special  mailings from  both the  Atari Elite Inc. and the AUA or any
     other usergroups who wish to participate.

 o   ANY AND ALL BENEFITS of being a member of the LARGEST  Atari User base
     in the world!


        =========================================================
        PACKAGE TWO:  ACTIVE AUA MEMBERSHIP w/newsletter -- $5.00
        =========================================================

 Includes  one  year  membership  to  the  Atari  User's  Association and a
 subscription to the AUA Newsletter.

           Your benefits:

 o   Special purchase prices offered  by  the  AUA.    Once  again, numbers
     talk!

 o   Special mailings from the AUA including the AUA newsletter published 4
     times a year.

 o   Membership in the Largest Atari User Base in the world!

 o   Special group discounts at Microtyme

 o   ANY AND ALL BENEFITS of being a member of the Largest  Atari User Base
     in the world!


        ========================================================
        PACKAGE THREE:  NON-ACTIVE AUA MEMBERSHIP --  $$ FREE $$
        ========================================================

 Includes  one  year  membership  to  the  Atari  User's Association.  This
 membership does not entitle you to any mailings made by the AUA  but still
 makes you  eligible for  any special purchase prices offered by the AUA or
 any group discounts offered by Microtyme.   You  will also  have access to
 the Atari  Elite BBS  in Pittsburgh.   The  only requirements are that you
 fill out the AUA  application  to  join  and  once  a  year  to  keep your
 information current.   This  is by  far the most popular package!  But you
 can show your support for the  Atari Community  and take  advantage of the
 other two membership packages! 

        Microtyme is an Official AUA Supplier at 1-800-255-5835

 --------------------------- Clip Here ---------------------------

              //////////  //      //  //////////        ** ** **
             //      //  //      //  //      //         ** ** **
            //      //  //      //  //      //          ** ** **
           //////////  //      //  //////////          **  **  **
          //      //  //      //  //      //         ***   **   ***
         //      //  //////////  //      //        ***     **     ***

           THE ATARI USER'S ASSOCIATION        SUPPORTING THE REVOLUTION 

   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

     Thank you for your interest in the Atari User's Association.
     Please take the time to complete this application and mail it 
     to the address below.
   
 ========================================================================

 First Name:_____________________ LastName:______________________________
 Address:________________________________________________________________
 City:________________________________ ST:____ Zipcode:__________________
 Country:_____________________________ Age:(optional)____________________
 Telephone: __________________________ Work: ____________________________

   [  ] Check here to place name in the AUA Public Membership Directory

   (This will allow you to be placed on national mailing lists for Atari
    ST products and information)

 =========================================================================

 HARDWARE: [ ]520ST  [ ]1040ST  [ ]MEGA 2  [ ]MEGA 4  [ ]STacy  [ ]Other
 MONITOR : [ ]COLOR  [ ]MONO [ ]OTHER:____________________________________
 DRIVES  : [ ]DSDD   [ ]SSDD [ ]HARD DRIVE Model/Size:____________________
 PRINTER : [ ]9 Pin Dot Matrix [ ]24 Pin Dot Matrix   [ ]Laser  [ ]DeskJet
     Printer Model:_______________________________________________________

 MODEM   : Max Speed [ ]300  [ ]1200  [ ]2400  [ ]4800  [ ]9600  [ ]14,400
     Modem Model:_________________________________________________________

 OTHER PERIPHERALS________________________________________________________
 _________________________________________________________________________

 EMULATORS IN USE:________________________________________________________
 _________________________________________________________________________

 =========================================================================

 Primary             Use              of             your             Atari
 Computer:_______________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________

 ========================================================================
 If you are a member of a User Group, Please fill in:
 UG Name: _______________________________________________________________
 Address: _______________________________________________________________
 City _________________________________State _____ ZIP _______Country____

 BBS # ______________________________________No. of Members______________ 
 President's Name:________________________________Phone:_________________
 ________________________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________

 Comments:_______________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________

 I   can   be    reached    at    FNET    node:___________    and/or   FIDO
 node:_________________GEnie_________________CIS______________other______
 ________________________________________________________________________

 =========================================================================
 MEMBERSHIP FEES:   [ ] Non-Active AUA Membership        -- $ FREE $
                    [ ] Active AUA w/NewsLetter          -- $ 5.00/year
 Please Select ONE  [ ] Active AUA W/Newsletter & Disk   -- $ 15.00/year
 =========================================================================

 Mail application to:
                       The Atari User's Association
                           Attn: D.C. Signorini
                              P.O. Box 18293
                           Pittsburgh, PA  15236

 =========================================================================
 MicroTyme Computers is an official supplier of the AUA at: 1-800-255-5835
 =========================================================================


      ------------------------ Clip Here ---------------------------





        __________________________________________________________




 > WAYNE GRETZKY CPU/STR Review   A Premier Hockey Game...
   ============================




                                        Wayne Gretzky Hockey
                                        ====================


 by D.C. Signorini


      From the time I became an avid hockey fan back in 1984, due, in part,
 to the emergence of  Mario Lemieux  and the  resurgence of  the Pittsburgh
 Penguins, I  have been  searching for the ultimate hockey game for the ST.
 I have seen 3 or 4 of them come through in the past 3  years, and  each of
 them is  far from my expectations of what a good computer simulated hockey
 game should be.  Each of them had  one feature  or another  that made them
 inferior to  games that  I had seen at the arcade.  None of them were able
 to give me the playing satisfaction that I was looking for.  So, I waited,
 hoping that  someone somewhere  would have the incentive to develop a good
 hockey simulation.  There are great  football simulators,  a few fantastic
 baseball games,  and a  handful of other sport packages that are very good
 and use the powerful graphic capabilities of the Atari ST.

      Why then, is hockey such  a  difficult  simulation  to  develop?   In
 sports like  baseball, and  for example, Hardball by Accolade, you control
 only one player at a time.  You are either pitching or  catching, throwing
 or hitting,  and that  is it.   You  are not required to control any other
 player on the field, until of course, an action prompts you to do so.   In
 hockey, while you only need to control the player with the puck, there are
 5 other players moving on the ice while their positions are crucial to the
 outcome  of  the  play.    There  are plenty of factors involved in hockey
 including skating, passing, shooting, and lets not leave out hard hitting.
 From a  developer's perspective,  there are  a lot  of events that must be
 monitored and calculations to be made.  That may be the reason  there just
 has not been a good hockey simulation marketed for the ST.  Until now.

      Wayne  Gretzky  Hockey  (WGH),  by  Bethesda Softworks, is by far the
 answer in hockey simulations for which I have been searching  for almost 3
 years.   First marketed  for the  IBM and compatibles, WGH was designed by
 Wayne Gretsky hockey  and  other  hockey  professionals  including several
 players from  the Washington Capitals.  This game requires a great deal of
 skill while it offers some exciting action and a few other features that I
 will discuss later.

      When you  boot WGH,  you are greeted with the a title screen and then
 the Game Setup Menu.   From  the menu  screen you  can choose  the mode of
 control, either  joystick or  mouse, and  other features including playing
 speed, skill levels of both you and your opponent, period time length, and
 also the  type of  play which  is broken  down as control player, play and
 coach, coach only, and Wayne coaches.  The type of play you  chose depends
 on what level of involvement you want.  If you select 'control player' you
 are only responsible for play on the ice.  Any coaching decisions are made
 automatically by  the computer  and is suggested for beginners.  'Play and
 coach' will also give you complete  control over  line changes   This mode
 gives you  the most  control over  the entire  team and  the game.  If you
 select 'coach only' from the set  up menu,  then you  are only responsible
 for strategic  decisions including lines and line changes.  And lastly, if
 you select 'Wayne Coaches' you can sit back and just  watch the  game with
 no involvement at all.

      Next, on  the Game  Setup Menu,  you can  choose from 4 'Team Quality
 Levels' including High School, College, Junior, and Pro.    Your team will
 play best at the 'pro' level while in 'high school' mode you will see some
 poor hockey.  You can set up the game so that you, the home  team, play at
 the pro  level while  your opponent,  the visitor  team, plays at the high
 school level.  It is nice to beat up on your opponent this way!

      You can also select 'Game Type'  from  the  Game  Setup  Menu.   Four
 choices are  available including:  Practice Game, Normal Game, and Playoff
 Game.  During 'practice game' you will have only three players on  the ice
 plus your  goalie.   Penalties will  be called, but no one will be sent to
 the penalty box.  If you select 'Normal  Game' action  will be  fast paced
 and a sudden death over time period of 5 minutes will be played in case of
 a tie.  In addition, 'Playoff Game' will play like 'Normal Game' except in
 sudden death you will play until there is a winner!

      One of the finer features of the game is Fights.  You have the option
 to include or eliminate fights during play.  Now, this  feature is unique.
 If you  select fights,  the probability of two players fighting is greatly
 increased.  You can provoke a fight by harassing a player, or the computer
 will randomly  instigate a  fight between two computer controlled players.
 When a fight occurs, the viewing  screen on  the gondola  will display the
 fight in life like animation.  This is really a great feature of WGH since
 fighting is a very real part of professional  hockey and  the graphics and
 animation is well done.  Though the documentation does not mention exactly
 how many fight sequences are on  the  disk,  you  can  purchase additional
 fight diskettes  from Bethesda  Softworks if  you get  tired of seeing the
 same fight sequences.  You will have to see this  in action  to appreciate
 it!!

      Other features  on the  Game Setup Menu include cursor size for mouse
 play, printer choice which directs  printing  to  the  serial  or Parallel
 ports, and  color selection  which allows you to change the colors of each
 team.

      One of the last features found on the  Game Setup  Menu is  the 'Team
 Editor'  selection.    Clicking  on  this  selection  brings  up the 'Team
 Construction Menu' where you can load a team from the data disk  or create
 your own  team roster.   You  are given a nice selection of teams to start
 with on the data diskette including the 1989  LA Kings,  the 1988 Edmonton
 Oilers,  and  the  1970  Boston  Bruins  to  name  a few.  The team roster
 includes a list of team players, their number, position, and a list  of 11
 individual player  characteristics including aggression, quickness, power,
 injury, skating, checking, and shooting.  Each characteristic  is assigned
 a number  from a  0 to  9 rating  which allows  you to  influence a team's
 playing style.  If you assign each player's  characteristic list  all 9's,
 you will  have one  powerful team.  Conversely, if you want real life like
 action, you can create  a  characteristic  list  that  depicts  a player's
 actual  hockey  capabilities.    For  example, a player like Mario Lemieux
 would have a rating of 8 and 9  for puck  control, passing,  and shooting,
 while having a checking rating of 4 or 5.  Players like Mark Messier would
 have a high aggression, checking, and power rating,  and possibly  a lower
 puck control  and shooting  rating.   This 'Team Construction Menu' offers
 the game a great deal of realism and  flexibility.   Once you  create your
 super team, you can save it to the diskette and recall it at a later time.
 Also, this allows you to match  up  say  the  1970  Bruins  with  the 1986
 Canadians and sit back to enjoy the match in 'Wayne Coaches' mode!

      Another fine  feature of  WGH is  the statistics  capabilities of the
 game.  The computer  will  track  penalty  stats,  shots  on  goal, goals,
 assists, and a lot of other vital numbers from the game of hockey and will
 save them to diskette with the team roster.  Theoretically, you can create
 a roster  for each  team in  the NHL and a schedule and play an entire NHL
 season from the comfort of your home.   The stats  can also  be printed to
 the printer for a hard copy.

      If that  is not  enough, how does all of this sound:  Instant Replay,
 Save and Review Game, Digitized Sound effects taken from actual ice sound,
 Animated refs and Animated penalty calls, and overhead display showing all
 action.  The game has many fine features that makes it truly enjoyable.

      Finally, a mention on the actual game play.  WGH  can be  played with
 either a  mouse or  joystick.  In either mode, you decide which player you
 will control by selecting the appropriate function key on the keyboard. F1
 to control the Left Defenseman, F2 for the Left Winger, F3 for the Center,
 F4 for the Right Winger and F5 for the Right  Defenseman.   While the game
 defaults with  control of  the Center,  you have  the option to choose any
 player on the ice except the goalie.   In mouse  mode, you  move a special
 cursor/pointer in  the direction you want the player to move.  The further
 away the pointer is  from the  player, the  faster he  will skate  in that
 direction.    Hold  down  the  mouse  button  and  move  the cursor in the
 direction you want to pass or shoot the puck.  Sounds simple,  right?  Not
 hardly.  I have found that control with the joystick is much easier for me
 since it is a bit difficult to watch your player, the other  10 players on
 the ice  AND the  pointer at the same time.  I prefer joystick mode, which
 does not make use of this moving pointer.  Instead, your player  moves and
 shoots the puck in the direction the joystick is pointing.  Much easier. I
 am also using a Gravis Mouse stick  which  is  much  easier  on  the wrist
 compared to  the old  Atari Joystick  that I have had since 1981. (yes, my
 original joystick that I used with my 800 is still alive and well, but has
 been demoted  due to  the emergence of the Gravis).  In joystick mode, you
 skate with the puck and while skating, you simultaneously push  the button
 and point the joystick in the direction that you want to shoot or pass and
 when you release the button, the puck is sent.

       Overall, Wayne Gretzky Hockey is a well developed  piece of software
 for the  Atari ST.   Some  things that  would make the game better include
 more sound effects such as skating and possibly the sounds of a  slap shot
 or the  puck hitting the goal posts.  These would be nice additions adding
 even more real life action.  The documentation  is at  times thin  and not
 very explanatory.  For instance, the documentation often refers to another
 section in the  manual  only  to  cross  reference  back  to  the original
 reference not ever really explaining the feature at all.  The manual could
 have been a bit  more  thorough  and  more  time  should  have  been taken
 explaining  the  software  instead  of  what  Wayne Gretzky expects from a
 hockey player or game.  On a more personal note, and not  taking away from
 the  talent  of  Wayne  Gretzky,  the package makes too many references to
 Wayne Gretsky and his achievements.  If you  lived in  Pittsburgh and have
 watched Mario  Lemieux in  action, you will be the first to say that Wayne
 Gretzky is not the best player in hockey.   However,  I thank  him for his
 involvement  with  Bethesda  Softworks  and  for  inspiring the company to
 produce a fine quality hockey simulation.







           _____________________________________________________





 > CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL   Sayin' like it is ....
   =========================



 - Sarasota, FL.     ****  INTERSECT TO DROP MASTERLINK CONCEPT  ****
   -------------

     In a recent conversation with Intersect, they have indicated that they
 will  not  be  pursuing  the  background  downloading  feature  in  future
 releases of Masterlink, in fact, it  is perceived  that the  best that can
 expected   is   a   superior   upgrade   to   Interlink.    The  Interlink
 Telecommunications Software is one of the best available  in the  ST arena
 and has  in the  past years enjoyed greater support than the other popular
 giant, Flash.  We have this, unconfirmed, from  a usually  reliable source
 that we  can forget  about seeing  Flash 2.0, at least, for now.  Most all
 the developers cite the Lack  of  commitment  on  Atari's  part  for their
 decisions.



 - Pontiac, MI         ******  MICHTRON READY FOR STE & PC SPEED  ******
   -----------

     In their usual ongoing, excellent support of the ST userbase, MichTron
 has announced that the emulator they market in  the USA,  PC SPEED  is now
 ready and  fully compatible  with the STE.  The new STE PCSpeed units will
 be here  and ready  for the  planned April  release of  the STE  to the US
 market.  

     In another  area, MichTron has made know a potential headache to folks
 who think they are getting a bargain PC Speed, it seems a slick west coast
 operator-distributor has  made an  overseas purchase  of the  units from a
 grey market source.  Folks, make sure the MichTron Logo is on  the package
 and that  your receipt  states "Michtron  PC Speed"  if the  place you are
 buying this device from cannot provide either, think twice.  There will be
 no support  for un-registered  owners.   Send in  your registration cards.
 There are none in the non-MichTron packages.



 - Sunnyvale, CA               *****  NO APRIL FOOLS   ....PLEASE!  *****
   -------------

     The story line sounds all too familiar, "We will ship in April"  Hmmm,
 let's not forget what April is synonymous with;  April fools and tax time.
 Hopefully the STE will ship in April and the US market will  have NEW LIFE
 breathed into it.

     The Atari  Advantage...  hmmmm Advantage, wasn't or isn't that a brand
 of cigarettes, soap or  a  laundry  detergent?    Atari  wants  to  call a
 promotional package they will offer in April this name while the promotion
 is a carbon copy of the  European offering  called "The  Power Pack".   Ah
 yes, the name game.  Strange tho', a highly successful promo in Europe and
 they want to change it here.. duh!  A single  name heard  'round the world
 makes for instant recognition.  Or, at least it used to.



 - Sunnyvale, CA                      ******  R.STRINGARI RESIGNS!  ******
   -------------

     The president  of the  games division  is gone.....   after all, so is
 this year's Winter CES.  Now comes the "good" news;  Atari  is planning on
 merging  the  Computer  and  games (entertainment) divisions into one unit
 headed up by a new president,  who brings  with him  excellent promotional
 capabilities.   But he  has little or no experience in the computer field.
 He was previously  president  of  a  beverage  (sparkling  water) company.
 (sound familiar?)  "Does YOUR vichy water taste funny?"



 - Jacksonville, FL            *****  AVANT-GARDE IGNORES LOCALS!!!  *****
   ----------------

     Sadness, anger,  frustration, and lastly, revenge seem to be the order
 of the day with the  local  supporters  of  Avant  Garde  in Jacksonville,
 Florida, (PC-DITTO  II).   Its a very sad tale indeed.  It began yesterday
 when two customers, both carrying the  wonderfully satisfying  NEW PCDITTO
 II botch  job went  to Avant  Garde's address  to try and get the new PALS
 and/or some help.  Well what we are about to tell you  is indeed,  hard to
 take  folks,  but  here  it  is..  in its stark reality.  The first fellow
 drove up  and went  to the  door, after  walking around  the huge Mercedes
 Benz,  he  knocked  and  while  waiting,  he could hear voices talking and
 laughing upstairs.  Thinking they didn't hear his knock, the fellow called
 out  to  Bill  Teal  (he  knows Bill personally and recognized his voice).
 There was immediate silence and no  further conversation,  they never came
 to the door, looked out or spoke another word.  
  
     The  second  approach  was  more  of  the same cold shoulder nonsense.
 Folks, we were informed that the mailbox was  already damaged,  could that
 have been  done by  other angry  locals?  The important thing here is why?
 Why did they NOT answer  the  door?    One  may  speculate  many different
 reasons.   A gut  feeling says; they simply didn't have the chips ready at
 the time and did not want it known.  Hopefully, when these folks go to the
 door next  week the  response is  more positive  and customer satisfaction
 oriented.  To intentionally ignore paying customers is plain dumb.

     After this occurred, the  fellows decided  to try  MA BELL.   This was
 another wonderful  learning experience  on how to do business, win friends
 and influence people,   ...CONSTANT  BUSY SIGNALS.   They  then called the
 phone  company  and  asked  that  they  check  the line and possibly do an
 emergency interrupt.   This  is basically  what they  were told.   "We are
 sorry, but  no-one is  talking on  the line, but we can hear voices in the
 background.  We will report this to service for you".  Ah  yes.. "the old,
 off the hook routine"!

     Perhaps the  time has  come for the users to let Avant-Garde know they
 are truly unhappy and something must be done now.   For example,  send the
 PALS to  every customer out there that received the botched boards.  After
 all, lets make sure the PCD2 they own may be used from one machine  to the
 next.   By saying, "if it works its ok, don't fix it", is not enough.  You
 should say, if it works in the machine you have it in now, doesn't mean it
 will be  ok in  a different machine therefore, we are sending the chips to
 all who have received boards from  us.    Also  have  you  finally stopped
 shipping the  defective boards???  Or is this too, going to continue until
 the cows come home?  With the phones still off the hook!






      _______________________________________________________________









  > Hard Drive Info STReport InfoFile      Affordable Mass Storage
   ================================= 
  
  


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                       ============================


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              P.O. Box 6672  Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
                                Est.  1985
                 _________________________________________

                   Voice: 904-783-3319  10 AM - 4 PM EDT
                     BBS: 904-786-4176   12-24-96 HST
                    FAX: 904-783-3319  12 PM - 6 AM EDT
                 _________________________________________
                                        
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                   _____________________________________
                                        
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                 are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
                                        
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                 (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!)
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   * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * 
                  * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS *

         32mb #SG32238   519.00              42mb #SG44710   619.00
         51mb #SGN4951   619.00              65mb #SG60101   679.00
         80mb #SGN296    719.00             100mb #SG84011D  939.00

                  CALL FOR SAVINGS ON LARGER CUSTOM UNITS

               ============================================
                            :IMPORTANT NOTICE:
                       =============================
                         PRE-SEASON OFFER 02/10/90
                       =============================

         ORDER YOUR HARD DRIVE NOW AND GET A SECOND COMPLETE UNIT!
                      ****** for $100.00 LESS! ******
                 That's right! A custom two for one sale.
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                      shipping and insurance included
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               ============================================

               * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE *

     - SYQUEST 44 MB removable media drive     - ICD ST Host Adapter
     - ICD Mass Storage Utility Software       - 3' DMA Cable 
     - Fan & Clock                             - Multi-Unit Power Supply
                          (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.

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                  in a shoebox OR under monitor cabinet  
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    * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
         - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -
          50mb SQG51   $1279.00           30mb SQG38    $1199.00
          65mb SQG09   $1339.00           85mb SQG96    $1399.00
                       
                 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS

            *****  COMING SOON!   INSITE FLOPTICAL DRIVE  *****
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             20 MB 3.5 FLOPPY DISK MASS STORAGE OPTICAL DRIVE!
            uses standard 3.5" floppy disks and Floptical disks
           Will access and read your present library of floppys

                              $789.95 approx.  
                      CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE
           Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
      Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
    (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)
                                     
            *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms ***

    ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR
                                        
             LARGER units are available - (special order only)

 We would offer floppy drives..  but Computer Shopper has 'em at  the right
 price.  And.. you can plug 'em right into our cabinets and power supplies.
 Low-Boy OR Standard Case (designed with  room  for  another  3.5  OR 5.25"
 drive)  They're made for user expansion!  TRUE UPGRADE-ABILITY!

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      _______________________________________________________________



 > A "Quotable Quote"
   =================




                  "NEVER PLAY LEAPFROG WITH A UNICORN!!"


                                           ... A moment of truth






 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 CPU/STR           "Your Independent News Source"        February 16, 1990
 16/32bit Magazine         copyright  1989                      No.4.07
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
 the editors, staff,  CPU  NEWSWIRE  CPU/STR  or  CPU  Report.   Reprint
 permission is  hereby granted,  unless otherwise noted.  All reprints must
 include CPU NEWSWIRE, CPU/STR or CPU  Report and  the author's  name.  All
 information presented  herein is  believed correct,  the editors and staff
 are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

