
           *---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
                  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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                                   from
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                            """"""""""""""""""


 May 10, 1991                                                       No.7.19
 ==========================================================================

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                          Jacksonville,  Florida
                               32205 ~ 6672
  
                               R.F. Mariano
                            Publisher - Editor
                 -----------------------------------------
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    __________________________________________________________________

 > 05/10/91: STReport #7.19  The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!
   -------------------------
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU REPORT        - MAC REPORT
     - CODEHEAD UPDATES       - AMIGA ACCUSED!    - TRAMIEL LETTER 
     - The Flip Side          - SST030 WINDSOR    - EARLE INTERVIEW

               -* 2 EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS WINDSOR REPORTS! *-
                  -* WINDSOR PRODUCT DEBUTS DESCRIBED! *-
                      -* PAGESTREAM 2.1 DETAILED! *-

 ==========================================================================
                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
                     The _Number One_ Online Magazine
                              -* FEATURING *-
                     "UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
       Current Events, Original Articles, Hot Tips, and Information
             Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
 ==========================================================================
 STReport's support BBS, NODE 350, invites systems using Forem ST and Turbo
 Board BBS to participate in the  Fido/F-Net Mail  Network.   Or, call Node
 350 direct  at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging infor-
 mation relative to the Atari ST computer arena through an excellent Inter-
 national ST Mail Network.  All registered F-NET - Crossnet SysOps are wel-
 come to join the  STReport Crossnet  Conference.   The Crossnet Conference
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 ==========================================================================
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 ==========================================================================

 > The Editor's Podium 


     This past week has produced some  mighty interesting  events, from the
 Windsor  show  of  last  weekend,  to  the strange goings-on in the online
 arena.  Including a  mysterious "crystal  ball" type  product denunciation
 that will  remain the  ALL-TIME ONLINE  MYSTERY.  All very interesting in-
 deed.  The most important of "happenings" is the reputed "bullying" of the
 NEW AtariUser Magazine people by a few of the rather outspoken dealers.  

     Seems they  did not care for the 'inside the front cover' price Zephyr
 Computers had for the 1040STe of $385.00.  Mighty ODD I'd say  since there
 were similar  ads elsewhere in the magazine.  It couldn't possibly be cen-
 tered around who owns Zephyr now could it?   Of  course, at  this point in
 time, roughly  a month  or so later, the prices mentioned sound just about
 right. 
  
     Some folks  came back  from Canada's  Windsor Show  reporting they had
 been  told  by  an  Atari  Rep  that  BOTH the TT and the MegaSTe had been
 awarded Class B FCC authorization, that is really  good news.    Elsewhere
 in  this  issue  are  our  extensive, in-depth show reports about Windsor.
 Don't miss  them.   I still  believe that  Atari is  on the  right path to
 recovery and  will prevail.   Watch for some very special VME cards in the
 near future that are destined to pale any mode of VGA.
  
     Some of you may have noticed  that  our  issues  have  gotten somewhat
 larger, this is a result of our striving to bring you more complete cover-
 age of relevant matters in the Atari arena,  not just  teasers or interest
 leaders.


                                       Thank for your support,

                                              Ralph......
  





                           TODAY'S NEWS ..TODAY!

  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 > STReport's Staff              The regulars and this week's contributors!
   ================

                            Publisher - Editor
                            ------------------
                             Ralph F. Mariano


 Staff Editors:
 --------------
          Michael Arthur      Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.     Dana P. Jacobson
          Lucien Oppler       Brad Martin              Walter Daniel
          Oscar Steele        Robert Allbritton        John Szczepanik
                              Dan Stidham

 Contributing Correspondants:
 ----------------------------
          Michael Lee         Richard Covert           Roger Stevens
          Brian Converse      Oliver Steinmeier        Ed Krimen
                    Tim Holt                 Andrew Learner
           

                             IMPORTANT NOTICE
                             ================
      Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
                              via E-Mail to:

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     COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME

                              to the Readers of;
  
                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
                  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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                 You will receive your complimentary time
                                   and 
                       be online in no time at all!

                  WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (May 10)

 FUNK ALERT!

 Charles  F.  Johnson  and  LGF  Software announces a new shareware utility
 called Funk Alert!, a really *tiny* (but powerful!) program that  lets you
 use the  function keys  F1, F2,  and F3  to select  the buttons in any GEM
 alert box!  See FUNKAL.ARC now available in Library 1 of the Atari Produc-
 tivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO).

 NEW FROM GRIBNIF IN ATARIVEN

 The following  new files  are available  in LIBRARY 8 of the Atari Vendors
 Forum (GO ATARIVEN) from Gribnif Software:

 FIXQUE.ARC -- A fixed NeoDesk 3.02 Printer Queue.  The one included in the
 PCH302.ARC would  not print  correctly, so download this file if you down-
 loaded the  older version  of the  PATCH program  and you  use the NeoDesk
 Printer Queue.

 FIXPCH.ARC --   This  patch program will upgrade copies of NeoDesk 3 (ver-
 sion 3.01) to the newer 3.02  version.   This program  fixes several small
 bugs and problems, and adds some minor enhancements.

 PATCH PROGRAM FROM CODEHEAD

 CodeHead  software  has  uploaded  a  small,  easy to use patch program to
 correct two minor bugs in their MaxiFile III product.  Download MAXPAT.PRG
 from LIBRARY 16 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).

 Programmers are  invited to  download CALLM.ARC, also in LIBRARY 16 of the
 Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN) from CodeHead Software,  which describes
 how  they  can  easily  call  MaxiFile  III and use it as a "multiple item
 selector."

 PROGRAM OF THE WEEK FROM DOUBLECLICK

 Don't miss Double Click's "Program of the Week" -- DC  POPBAR!   DC POPBAR
 gives the  GEM desktop a pop-up menu of the menu bar entries. Now all menu
 entries are available in this convenient "pop-up menu"  wherever the mouse
 is.   Download DCPOPB.ARC  from LIBRARY  13 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO
 ATARIVEN).

 Last weeks Double Click "Program of  the  Week"  was  a  fantastic utility
 which  will  let  you  run  boot  disks from your Desktop!  *VERY USEFUL!*
 Download DCBTIT.ARC from LIBRARY 13 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIV-
 EN).
         
 QUICKCIS UPDATE

 QuickCIS  users--download  QCNEW.LZH  from  LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Produc-
 tivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) for the latest version  that allows  you to use
 Ymodem-G with an error correcting modem for faster file transfers.

 PORTFOLIO LIBRARY CATALOGS

 New  catalog  files  for  all  public libraries of the Atari Portfolio (GO
 APORTFOLIO) are now available in Library 1.

 A 60X10 PORTFOLIO SCREEN

 A software solution allowing a 60x10 screen for the Portfolio is available
 as 60BY10.ZIP in LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO).


 A NEW FORUM!
 Ron Luks  is preparing to open an new Palmtop portable forum on CIS, units
 to be covered include; Sharp Wizard, Casio, Poquet and others.   The Port-
 folio  forum  will,  however,  remain  in  the Atari Area and receive full
 support from the Ron Luks and his CIS Atari Staff.

                  THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
                            HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
                OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"


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





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


  Issue # 110
  -----------


 by Michael Arthur


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

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


       AT&T, as well as several University  research teams,  have developed
 experimental "photonic"  computers that  utilize optical technology.  With
 these devices promising to be many  times faster  than ordinary electronic
 computers, these  developments have stirred up much discussion on both the
 capabilities of optical computing, and  its  role  in  the  future  of the
 microcomputer  industry.    In  order  to understand the potential of both
 photonics and optical computers, let us take a look at  both the differen-
 ces 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  aswitch. These bursts
 cause  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 VERY small  laser,  and  are  then  transmitted  to  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 integ-
 rated circuitry, including:

       -   Speed.   Since they  are, in  essence, what light is made up of,
 photons travel at the speed of light.  Therefore, photonic techology would
 be a LOT faster than electronic technology.  Resulting in MUCH faster com-
 puter 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 phot-
 onics and  holographic technology  is being  researched.  Instead of tran-
 smitting light to a  photodetecting crystal,  some scientists  are looking
 into directing a stream of light towards holograms,so as to create hologr-
 aphic 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, implemen-
 ting integrated circuitry that  is  fully  based  on  photonics  will take
 several years  of development.  In order to utilize the abilities of opti-
 cal computing in the near future, an upcoming technology called optoelect-
 ronics is  being developed, which combines the speed of optical technology
 with proven electronic circuitry.

       In optoelectronics,  light  is  transmitted  via  optical  fibers to
 lightdetecting  crystals  (or  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 electronic
 circuit, which then processes the data at a normal rate.   This  method of
 interconnecting chips  has great  potential.   For example,  whole bus ar-
 chitectures 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 deve-
 lopment.    Currently,  the  accuracy of calculations done with completely
 photonic computers is low in comparison to that of modern  electronic com-
 puters.  Also, new design techniques must be developed in order to develop
 microchips which take full advantage of the capabilities  inherent in pho-
 tonic technology.   However, optoelectronics, photonics, and other techno-
 logies used in optical computing will certainly become an integral part of
 future computer technology....



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


           Laser Breakthroughs, Blue Light, and a New Optical Age
           ------------------------------------------------------

       Bellcore (a  division of  AT&T's Bell Laboratories) has demonstrated
 the  first  working  prototype  of  a  "quantum  wire"  laser.    Sized at
 near-atomic  dimensions,  this  technology  involves directing electricity
 through a laser wire core measuring 30 atoms high by 300 atoms wide.  This
 process  then  generates  coherent  (or single-wavelength) light, which is
 directed along the wire.  This  "quantum wire  device" uses  principles of
 quantum mechanics  (a theory  in physics which deals with phenomena at the
 atomic level) to generate coherent light  (or laser  light) with extremely
 low amounts of electricity.

       Bellcore's quantum  wire device  is 1/4  of a millimeter long, and a
 thousandth the thickness of a human  hair  (or  20  times  smaller  than a
 compact  disk  laser).    Also,  it is the most efficient laser technology
 currently developed, and could provide great benefits in the future.   For
 example, today's compact disk lasers operate at 1/10 of an amp of current.
 Quantum wire lasers can operate at one millionth  of an  amp, meaning that
 they use up to 100,000 times less energy....

       This potential  also holds  great promise  for optical computing (or
 photonic) devices like the one shown by AT&T  a few  months back.   In the
 future, computers  may use  this laser technology in data transfers and in
 performing calculations.  The resulting microchips would be both extremely
 compact,  and  use  much  less  electricity  than present computers.  This
 technology (if used in computers)  may  even  eliminate  the  need  to use
 gallium  arsenide,  or  even  "high-temperature"  superconductors,  in the
 future to make faster supercomputers....

       Around the same time frame that Bellcore made  its announcement, IBM
 scientists showed  an inexpensive laser which can efficiently produce blue
 laser light.   IBM's  new laser  diode is  five times  more efficient than
 other devices at converting electricity into blue laser light, which could
 be made commercially available  within a  few years.   In  IBM's device, a
 diode laser  converts electricity  into infrared  laser light that is sent
 through a small (1/4 inch long) potassium niobate  crystal.   This crystal
 halves  the  laser  light's  wavelength  (doubling its frequency), thereby
 producing blue laser light.

       This device is usable for a wide range of applications.  One example
 is in  CD-ROM or  other optical disks, which store information as a series
 of embedded grooves created by a  laser.    While  current  infrared diode
 lasers create grooves which are around 0.8 microns in diameter, blue laser
 light can be focused on a much smaller  area (about  0.4 microns), because
 it has a shorter wavelength.

       In the future, this could allow a CD-ROM to hold four times the data
 (or about 2.6 Gigabytes of storage space) than currently possible.   Also,
 this  technology  could  be  quickly  converted for use in color displays,
 optical computing (in the near future), or in the field of medicine....



 > CPU STATUS REPORT               LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS 
   =================
  
   Issue #20



 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
  
  
  
 - Salt Lake City, Utah         WORDPERFECT SCRAPS ATARI ST UPGRADE PLANS
   --------------------
  
 Despite  a lot of unofficial publicity,  it looks like Wordperfect  Cor-
 poration has now all but abandoned plans to upgrade its Wordperfect word 
 processor for the Atari ST.
  
 While the official line was that work on the package had ceased for  the 
 ST platform at the 4.x version,  there were rumors that the company  was 
 working on an upgrade late in 1991,  thanks to the ST selling so well in 
 West  Germany.  It now seems that Atari Germany has cancelled  a  10,000 
 unit  order with Wordperfect US for copies of the ST  version.  Upgrades 
 will  now  confined  to small revisions and upgrades  on  an  occasional 
 basis.
  
 According  to sources close to Atari West Germany,  development work  on 
 version  5.x of Wordperfect for the ST platform was conditional  on  the 
 order being placed with Wordperfect U.S., for the 10,000 packages.
  

  
 - Los Angeles, California            AMIGA HAS MOST BIZZARE OF RACIST
   -----------------------                      COMPUTER GAMES
  
 Computer  video games where the player is a concentration  camp  manager 
 who sells lamps made from human skin,  gold tooth fillings and dog  food 
 to purchase gas to kill Turks and Jews are being distributed in  Germany 
 and  now  in the United States,  according to researchers at  the  Simon 
 Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
  
 The games are clearly aimed at the home computer market,  and especially 
 at preteens from 13-15 years of age.  They range from displays of German 
 pre-World  War II symbols to complex graphics of tortured prisoners  and 
 bizarre death images like the grim reaper, according to the center.
  
 The  most  bizarre  of  the games runs on an Amiga  and  is  titled  "KZ 
 Manager."  KZ is short for the German word for concentration  camp.  The 
 center has reported it contains graphic images of human torture, Hitler, 
 and  the  winner  gets to be the  Gestapo,  with  a  tortured,  bleeding 
 prisoner in the background.  "The quality of the graphics is very good - 
 the  people who wrote these games know what they're  doing,"  Wiesenthal 
 Center researchers said.
  
  

 - Tokyo, Japan                    SEGA & IBM TEAM UP ON NEW JAPANESE
   ------------                             GAME COMPUTER
  
 "Terra Drive",  a game-oriented personal computer developed jointly with 
 Sega Enterprises and IBM Japan,  will be released by Sega by the end  of 
 May.  To  keep the Terra compatible with both the IBM PC/AT  and  Sega's 
 game software,  it will be equipped with twin microprocessors - a  80286 
 chip with the AT bus and a 68000 chip for the Sega games - and with  the 
 Japanese  operating  system  "DOS/V",  which will  make  it  fully  IBM-
 compatible.
  
 With almost 100 software game titles already available,  the Terra  will 
 cost $1,100 for the low-end version (640k and one floppy drive),  $1,390 
 for the middle-line version (1-meg and two floppy drives) and $1,800 for 
 the  top-end  version (1-meg and 30-meg hard  drive).  The  14-inch  CRT 
 monitor costs $590.
  

  
 - Los Angeles, California              PRODIGY ACCESSES USERS COMPUTERS
   -----------------------
  
 Several  ex-Prodigy users have reported incidents involving the  finding 
 of personal data from their hard drives in Prodigy files.  One  user,  a 
 retired  physist and computer consultant,  reported that even though  he 
 had booted from freshly formatted floppy disks,  he kept finding  sensi-
 tive and personal information from his hard drive in the Prodigy files.
  
 Randie L. Moss,  a Prodigy services manager, claimed Prodigy could inad-
 vertently access user data,  but not if it was operated from a bootable, 
 freshly  formatted floppy disk.  In that case,  the letter  stated,  the 
 information from the hard disk files would not be accessed by Prodigy.
  
 The  Wall Street Journal reported Prodigy does access  information  from 
 users'  personal computers,  but said Prodigy doesn't look at the  data. 
 Prodigy officials were quoted as confirming a software quirk that  picks 
 up unrelated Prodigy information off a user's hard disk,  and also  con-
 firmed they could access that data.
    

  
 - Rockville, Maryland              GEIS LAUNCHES SALES AUTOMATION SYSTEM
   -------------------
  
 GE Information Services (GEIS)  has  announced that its new  Sales  Mar-
 keting  Communication System now takes advantage of GE's global  network 
 to  let sales people work together.  The Sales Marketing  Communications 
 System (SMCS) ties into the network to allow users to do such things  as 
 checking  product availability from a remote location.  It  combines  GE 
 Information  Services'  global network connectivity and support  with  a 
 customizable workstation for territorial sales management.   An  average 
 price  will  be  about  $1,000 per user  which  includes  the  software, 
 customization, and networking charges.
  
  


 - Eagan, Minnesota                  APPLE ORDERS 2ND CRAY SUPERCOMPUTER
   ----------------
  
 Apple Computer has ordered its second Cray supercomputer, a Cray Y-MP2E. 
 The new system will replace Apple's first Cray supercomputer,  a Cray X-
 MP,  that was installed in 1986. Apple will use the Y-MP2E for continued 
 research  and development applications,  speech recognition analysis  in 
 the  development  of  a speech recognition system  for  future  computer 
 products and analog circuit simulation for circuit design.  It will also 
 control many of Apple's manufacturing processing,  such as plastic  flow 
 modeling,  which is used to simulate the various steps in  manufacturing 
 computer cabinets, keyboards and other PC equipment.
  
  

 - Redmond, Washington                        WESTINGHOUSE BRAZIL RAIDED
   -------------------
  
 Acting on a complaint filed by Microsoft and Autodes,  Brazilian author-
 ities  carried  out a surprise piracy raid on the Sao Paulo  offices  of 
 Westinghouse Brazil.  They discovered "numerous unauthorized copies"  of 
 Microsofts  MS-DOS  o/s and of Autodesks AutoCAD  computer-aided  design 
 package.  Under Brazilian copyright law,  Westinghouse Brazil could face 
 fines totalling more than $2 million.
  
  

 - Washington, D.C.                    NEW SORT TECHNIQUE REVOLUTIONIZES
   ----------------                           COMPUTER SCIENCE
  
 Contradicting  30  years of computer science teaching  which  says  that 
 there is a definite limit as to how fast a computer can sort  data,  The 
 National   Science  Foundation  has  announced  the  development  of   a 
 revolutionary new sorting technique.  Compared to other sorting  techni-
 ques,  the new algorithm has the potential of permitting extremely  fast 
 sorting of huge databases and actually improves as the size of the data-
 base grows.  The new technique, referred to as a "fusion tree," allows a 
 computer to compare one number to many others during a single operation.
  
  

 - Tokyo, Japan                               WINDOWS A WINNER IN JAPAN
   ------------
  
 NEC,  Japan's computer giant,  has sold over 60,000 Windows 3.0 programs 
 in  Japan since February and has tripled its sales estimates to  200,000 
 units  for the first year.  Other PC makers such as Fujitsu  and  Seiko-
 Epson  are also receiving many purchase orders from  end-users,  meaning 
 the new product is being accepted in Japan.
  

  
 - Tokyo, Japan                       NEC TO PRODUCE 16M DRAM IN THE U.S.
   ------------
  
 NEC,  who developed the technology to produce a 16Mb DRAM,  will produce 
 16-megabit (Mb) dynamic random access memory chips in the U.S.  The firm 
 will  start  building the line at its Roseville factory  in  California. 
 This  action is designed to reduce trade friction between Japan and  the 
 U.S. Production is slated to start in 1993. Monthly production will be 1 
 million to 1.5 million units in 1994 and 1995.  The total cost to  build 
 the  16M  DRAM production line is expected to be 40 billion  yen  to  50 
 billion yen ($295 million to $370 million).
  

  
 - Redmond, Washington                    MICROSOFT STOCK SPLITS 3 FOR 2
   -------------------
  
 Hoping  to  make  its stock more affordable  to  the  average  investor, 
 Microsoft  has announced a three-for-two stock  split.  Shareholders  of 
 record on June 18, 1991, will receive one additional share for every two 
 shares they hold. Cash will be paid in lieu of fractional shares.
  





      ______________________________________________________________






 > FROM THE PRESIDENT STR FOCUS             SAM TRAMIEL'S ANNUAL MESSAGE
   ============================




                     ANNUAL LETTER TO THE STOCKHOLDERS
                     =================================



     During the year 1990, Atari Corporation improved its balance sheet and
 took steps  to reduce inventory and operating expenses.  While our subsid-
 iaries in Europe showed overall sales  growth with  good increases  in the
 United Kingdom  and France, our business in North America continued to ex-
 perience severe  competition in  the video  game and  computer markets and
 sales were down in 1990.

     For the  year ended  December 31, 1990, net income of $14.9 million on
 sales of $411.5 million.  This compares with the net  income of  $4.0 mil-
 lion on  sales of $423.6 million in 1989.  During the second half of 1990,
 the Company repurchased approximately 40% of its 5 1/4% convertible subor-
 dinated debentures  which resulted  in a  gain of  $21.1 million.   In the
 fourth quarter of 1990, the Company provided significant  inventory reser-
 ves, including  its traditional  U.S. video game products, to reflect cur-
 rent market value.   In addition,  having substantially  completed its li-
 quidation  of  the  remaining  assets  and liabilities of its discontinued
 operations of $14.6 million.   Our  performance in  1990 was disappointing
 from a  sales and  operating profit point of view.  However as a result of
 the reasons above, the Company's balance sheet improved  which resulted in
 net income of $14.9 million for the year.

     We are  investing in new product R&D and this should help position the
 Company in the years to come.  We are also  concentrating on  reducing our
 operating costs  by various  means including  the expansion of independent
 subcontractors for production purposes.

     In the third quarter of 1990, Atari started  shipping the  Atari TT030
 personal computer, based on the powerful Motorola MC68030 micro processor.
 The TT030, along with the MEGA STE, a  68000 based  computer, add advanced
 products to  our flagship line of personal computers.  The STE and TT line
 continues to attract top software developers  throughout the  world and we
 are continuing  to develop  new hardware  and software  for this family of
 products.  At the recent Hannover Fair (March 1991) in  Germany, the Atari
 ST compatible  Notebook portable  and the innovative Atari STylus portable
 were introduced.  The two machines  have long  battery life  and the Atari
 STylus features a pen oriented operation with character recognition.

     As a  result of  our new  marketing approach  and a lower retail price
 point, the Atari Portfolio, our one  pound portable  P.C. advanced organi-
 zer, is  doing well.   New Portfolio software titles are being released in
 1991 which should enhance the  Portfolio's  position  in  the marketplace.
 The Atari  line of  MS-DOS compatibles  suffered from  a continuing severe
 shortage of Intel 80386 microprocessors.   With recent  product announcem-
 ents in  the 80386  marketplace, we  hope that  this shortage will subside
 during the second half of 1991 and that  we can  reestablish this  line in
 our distribution network.

     In our  video game  business we are very pleased with the consumer re-
 sponse sponse to the new marketing compaign and lower retail  price points
 of the  Atari Lynx  as announced  at the January 1991 Consumer Electronics
 Show.  As a result of the release of only 12 titles  during 1990,  and the
 higher launch  price, sales  of the Lynx were slow.  However, with the new
 marketing compaign and the plan to make available for sale  over 40 titles
 in 1991,  we expect a much broader mass market appeal.  The Atari 2600 and
 7800 continue to sell well in Europe while the market for these two produ-
 cts in North America is extremely slow.  New table top video game consoles
 are planned for introduction in 1992.

     While we look at 1991 with caution due  to the  worldwide economic do-
 wnturn, we are confident that our present and future products will be well
 received.  Thank you all for your continued support.



                                             Sam Tramiel, President





  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                             IMPORTANT NOTICE!
                             =================

 As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to
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  NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines:

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

 The 20/20  Advantage Plan  IS FANTASTIC!   And it features 20 hours online
 for just $20 a month!  The $20 is a monthly fee that covers  your first 20
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 Other telecom services may have additional charges.  Canadian Tymnet users
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 > SOFT-LOGIK INFO CORNER STR InfoFile    The latest NEWS from Soft-Logik
   ===================================



                    SOFT-LOGIK ANNOUNCES PAGESTREAM 2.1
                                    FOR
                              ATARI COMPUTERS



     Soft-Logik  Publishing  Corporation  brings  the Atari Market the most
 dynamic desktop publishing program  available  -  PAGESTREAM!   Soft-Logik
 designed Pagestream 2.1 with many improved features as well as new featur-
 es.  Soft-Logik will continue, through  its  efforts,  to  be  the leading
 desktop publishing software for the Atari.
  
     PageStream 2.1  is a  desktop publishing program capable of supporting
 PostScript output, as well as dot matrix and laser printers.  PageStream's
 outline font technology yeilds smooth, crisp results.  PageStream displays
 multiple screen font styles, flows text  around any  irregular shaped gra-
 phic and  supports resident and downloadable PostScript fonts.  PageStream
 has many  other advanced  typographical features  including kearning, tag-
 ging, hyphenation  and variable  x and y point sizes.  Utilizing this user
 friendly program, one can rotate, slant or twist any object,  output color
 separations and  import graphics  and/or text  from many popular programs.
 PageStream also offers grouping,  variable line  and fill  styles and many
 more extraordinary features.
  
     Pagestream  2.1  is  fully  integrated with AGFA Compugraphic's hinted
 outline fonts, as well as the Adobe Type  1 IBM  format (without  hints to
 non Postscript  printers).  Pagestream 2.1 displays these outline fonts on
 the screen plus prints them out to laser, dot matrix, inkjet, non-postscr-
 ipt and PostScript printers with stunning results.
  
     PageStream 2.1can  draw polygons  with Bezier  cubic curves as well as
 the usual circles and straight lines.   PageStream  2.1 can  load and save
 tags separate  from a docvument and provide the user with consistancy page
 after page.  In addition, PageStream 2.1 will save documents  as templates
 for future works of similar design.

     PageStream  2.1  allows  for  specifications  of  beginning and ending
 angles of arcs in 1/100th degree increments and rotation in 1/100th degree
 increments.   PageStream 2.1  enables the  specification of  font sizes in
 1/100th point increments and positions, sizes and resizes an object to the
 same 1/100th  of a  point.   In addition, PageStream 2.1 can provide extra
 large page dimesions (billboard  size  and  beyond)  plus  the  ability to
 easily "bleed" objects off the page.

     PageStream 2.1 has enhanced its color capability to provide users with
 a wider selection of colors to choose from.  EPS  custom colors  are added
 ot the  color palette  when EPS files are imported.  Users can now specify
 CMYK colors through a new color requester.

     PageStream 2.1 has greatly improved its  support for  various test and
 graphic files.   With  PageStream 2.1, users can now import any Aegis file
 that contains color andany GEM metafile that contains text.  GEM Metafiles
 and Aegis  files are imported into documents "grouped".  In addition, Pag-
 eStream 2.1 adds support for the importing of  such graphic  files as Pro-
 Draw Clips, GIF and DR2D.
  
     Finally, PageStream  2.1 supports Adobe bitmap screen fonts which will
 provide users with faster screen redraws of Adobe Type 1  fonts.  Overall,
 PageStream 2.1 enters text and gragics faster than ever before.

     PageStream  2.1  retails  for  $299.95.  (very affordable)  Registered
 owners of previous versions of PageStream can upgrade  for a  limited time
 for  $75.00.    Registered  owners  of  Publishing Partner can upgrade for
 $175.00.  All upgrade rates are subject to change.

 for more info:
                      Soft-Logik Sales and Marketing
                              1-314-894-8608
                              1-800-829-8608
                             Technical Support
                              1-314-894-0431




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


                    :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.

               -> NOW!  GENIE STAR SERVICE IS IN EFFECT!! <-

         GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission


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



  
  
  
 > The Flip Side STR Feature
             "......a different viewpoint"
   ========================= 
  
  

  
                    A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
                    ==================================



 by Michael Lee

  
 You live and learn.  Last week I discussed how I was going to be  forced 
 to  paraphrase  some  posts from the ST RoundTable  on  Genie  and  said 
 "...and  thus,  I  will not be able to give the original  poster  proper 
 credit.  (If I give him credit,  then I'm quoting from him - a  Catch-22 
 situation.)"  One of my readers wrote to correct me for this  statement. 
 He  said  what  I  was  describing  was  plagerism,   not  paraphrasing.  
 According to him,  you either use the original writers name or at  least 
 attribute the paraphrased comments to someone,  even if it's "an on-line 
 source". I stand corrected.
  
 Last week we had a long discussion about laser printers, this week we'll 
 hear about hard drive noises and how to fix them (hopefully).  My column 
 is so large this week, that I'll just get on with it...

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

 From K.Duggan (Duggan DeZign) on the ST RoundTable on Genie...
    ...I would like to mention that my company produces a product line of 
    Joystick holders.  The products were designed to give game players an 
    advantage  when  playing games,  However we have  recently  had  some 
    orders  from Handicapped facilities.  I am happy to say that  one  of 
    them  took the time to write us back to say how much they  liked  the 
    products,  as  they  eliminate the need to hold the  Joysticks  while 
    playing. I personally found a great deal of satisfaction knowing that 
    our Products helped Handicapped people,  and find it very  rewarding. 
    We  are currently looking to get our products more involved  in  this 
    area. The two products are:
    
      The  Stik-Gripper,  which is a Steel Joystick clamp  which  fastens 
      your Joystick to a table top.
    
      The  T.C.S.  (Total Control Stand) which is a portable stand  which 
      you  place  on your chair (good for wheelchairs)  and  secure  your 
      Joystick, Track Ball, Mouse pad, Templates, or other devices to. It 
      comes with Velcro to attach devices or clamps are available.
  
    If  anyone  is interested in more information about  these  products, 
    contact us at the address or number below.  We would love to help the 
    handicapped for computing!

                            Duggan DeZign Inc.
                          300 Quaker Lane STE # 7
                             Warwick, RI 02886
                               401) 823-8073

    If you are interested, both of these products retail for under $20.00

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

 From Norm Wierness on Delphi...
    I got some info on ATW. It has been upgraded to use the H1 processor. 
    It  does 50 MHz internal,  5 MHz external and has many  improvements. 
    But don't ask me how you can get one,  bug Atari...The reports of its 
    death has been greatly exaggerated.

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

 Question from David L. Leon on CIS...
    Does  anyone know how to make an ST with a WuzTek Omnimon  multi-sync 
    [monitor]  get a full 1000x800 rez in monocrome mode?  I'd  heard  of 
    such tasks being done.

 Answer from Lee (Lexicor Sofware) on CIS...
    ...there  is two ways to do what you want.  One is to write your  own 
    driver for the monitor.  This will allow you to view programs in that 
    resolution.  This  is  how most big  screen  applications  work...The 
    second  way is to get a graphics board like the ISAC or Albert  board 
    which run in high resolution,  but keep the basic atari color palette 
    in  tact...There  are also several "Big Screen " programs  that  will 
    allow you to view large format picture files in low res.

 Answer from Jay Craswell (Dover Research) on CIS...
    ...my ISAC card which does 1024*768 in 16 colors...As long as you own 
    a Mega/MegaSTe or a TT,  I should have somthing for you!  (612)  492-
    3913

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

 Do you have a noisy hard drive?  Maybe one of the following answers will 
 help you solve your problem.   All from CIS.   (Note:  the questions and 
 replies were compiled from from 2-4 posts)...
  
 Question from Rob Ramussen...
    I have a MegaFile 60 and ever since I've had it, it has made a slight 
    metallic  noise that really grates on the nerves (it comes and  goes, 
    and sounds like being inside an airplane when its ready to take off).  
    I  leave my hard drive on all the time until I'm through with it  for 
    the  day.  I  would send it in for servicing except it's hard  to  be 
    without it now. The chirping sound actually goes away for a second if 
    I  lightly  tap  on the case.   Sounds like it needs oil  -  is  this 
    possible!?

 Answer from Ralph Mariano (ST Report)...
    ...I have seen many of the "noise makers" silenced by the addition of 
    a  small piece of double faced tape or,  something  along those lines 
    that  add a small amount of mass to the strap at the point  where  it 
    vibrates  (usually  at the shaft)...The small added piece  stops  the 
    occilation but does not interfere with the ground potential...There's 
    a  small metal tab,  usually brass or copper,  very thin  and  spring 
    like,  that is soldered to the logic board on one end.  The other end 
    rests  against the edge of the spindle.  It's there to discharge  any 
    build  up  of  static electricity.  This tab  (ground  strap)  has  a 
    tendancy to chirp,  sing and yield various other oscillation tones as 
    it  ages.  A  small piece of adhesive tape etc.  placed  on  the  tab 
    changes  its  density ever so slightly.  Thus the  oscillations  stop 
    ....DO NOT oil the drive! That will quickly end it all.

 Answer from Willie Pelzer...
    ...the strap that he [Ralph Mariano] is talking about can be seen  if 
    you turn the drive upside down (with the power OFF,of course!).  It's 
    poking out the bottom/middle.

 Answer from Greg Wageman...
    Many hard drives have a grounding tab that electrically connects  the 
    motor spindle to ground. This prevents static electrical charges from 
    building  up between the spinning platters and the read/write  heads. 
    Without this ground spring,  the Whimhurst effect could cause a large 
    static  electrical potential to develop.  If this were  to  discharge 
    from platter to R/W head, it would destroy the head.
  
    The problem is that the spindle can "chatter" against this  grounding 
    spring,  resulting  in  the  high-pitched,  metallic  noise  you  are 
    hearing...Unfortunately,  I know of no fix for it.  Sometimes it goes 
    away spontaneously,  but more often it just continues  intermittantly 
    or becomes constant.
  
    I would be very reticent to oiling the grounding spring;  it's only a 
    fraction of an inch from the drive electronics.
  
    I  speak  as  a six year veteran systems  administrator  for  desktop 
    engineering workstations. Maxtor mechs seem to be the worst culprits. 
    Not all drives will show the problem.  I've worked with Unix  systems 
    that  have had 5-1/4" drives from  Fujitsu,  Maxtor,  Micropolis  and 
    Hitachi.  Each  drive has its own characteristic sound.  On some  the 
    head  positioning  mechanism  is  the  chief  source  of  noise.  The 
    Fujitsu's sound like they are grinding gears when the heads seek. Oh, 
    yeah,  I  forgot to mention CDC,  now owned by Seagate.  The CDC  327 
    megabyte  drives regularly developed this noise problem.  I've  never 
    heard a Micropolis drive do it...The quietest drives I've yet  worked 
    with  are  the  3-1/2"  embedded SCSI drives that  come  in  the  Sun 
    SparcStations.  They are so quiet its often hard to tell if they  are 
    actually working!

    The sticky tape solution sounds worth a try, though.

 Answer from Bob Retelle (Sysop)...
    ...in  most  cases  a hard drive is mounted  with  the  actual  drive 
    mechanism on top,  and the circuit board on the bottom.  The  spindle 
    for  the mechanism usually protrudes through a circular hole  in  the 
    circuit board,  or is covered by the circuit board.  In either  case, 
    the  hard  drive has to be removed from the enclosure to get  to  the 
    bottom of the drive.

    If  you  have  one with the spindle protruding  through  the  circuit 
    board,  you  will immediately see the spring everyone's been  talking 
    about.  It looks like a flat finger holding the shaft into the mecha-
    nism. (It really doesn't hold the shaft in, it just looks that way.)

    If  you have one with no hole in the circuit board,  you'll  have  to 
    unscrew  the  circuit  board  from  the  bottom  of  the  hard  drive 
    (carefully, there are a lot of ribbon cables and wires between them).

    In either case,  the simplest way to stop the noise is to put a small 
    blob of silicone sealer (the rubbery stuff in a tube) on the  outside 
    of  the metal spring (NOT between the spring and  the  shaft!).  This 
    will dampen the oscillation of the spring and hopefully silence it.

    I guess it's up to you whether the noise is irritating enough to  dig 
    that deeply into the works..!


 Question from Bill Hunter...
    I was interested if you had any stats on Megafile 30  breakdowns.  My 
    drive is 16 months old.  Three weeks ago the drive seized up and  did 
    so  again  2 weeks later.  I wanted to know if this  was  a  frequent 
    problem....
  
 Answer from Dan McNamee (Atari)...
    ...I assume by "seize" you mean that you went to turn it on,  and the 
    drive wouldn't power up? If thats the case, it definately sounds like 
    a  the mech has gone bad.  The MF30's really have been  good  drives, 
    though.  When  I was in tech support,  I got extremely few  calls  on 
    them...As a matter of fact,  I have a MF30 here that I've been  using 
    nearly since I started working here (over 3 years ago) that is  doing 
    fine, and we have another on our BBS that has been running constantly 
    (24 hours a day,  7 days a week) except for the occasional power out-
    age, and system move with narry a problem.

    Do you turn the drive on and off several times a day?  This can cause 
    extreme wear on a hard disk mechanism because every time you turn  it 
    on,  it must spin the platters up to speed.  If so, I would recommend 
    that  if you are finishing a session of use,  but you think that  you 
    may do more later to just leave the drive on,  or for that matter  to 
    always leave the drive on.

    ...The warranty on the drive is 90 days,  so at 16 months,  the drive 
    is long out of warranty.  You might also check with a service  center 
    about repairs.

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

 From Richard Covert on the ST RoundTable on Genie...
    I  recently bought a used Sony Magneto-Optical hard drive for my  ST. 
    It is full read/write and random access.  The hard drive mechanism is 
    a  Sony SMO-501 optical and uses a double-sided cartridge  (297  megs 
    per side,  for a total of almost 600 megs per cart).   The cartridges 
    are  generic and multiple sourced (unlike the  Syquest  carts),  I've 
    found them selling for as low as $159 plus shipping.

    It's  in a standard 5.25" shoe box cabinet and came with an ICD  host 
    adaptor.  (The Sony has a SCSI interface,  so hooking it up to an ICD 
    host adaptor is simple.) It uses the latest ICD hard drive  software; 
    ICD has provided a modified version of their hard drive formatter  so 
    that  I can format new blank carts.  I got 330 KBytes/sec and  58  ms 
    when I ran RATEHD on it.
  
    ..if  you can get a good deal on the Sony mechanism and if  you  have 
    lots of SW to backup, then check out the Sony optical drives!!

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

 Question from David L. Leon on CIS...
    Has anyone heard any news on the Acer Multi-sync and the Atari STs? I 
    was  just curious if anyone had any positive or negative feedback  on 
    it.

 Answer from Jim Ness (Sysop) on CIS...
    ...this is second hand,  but those who have posted messages regarding 
    the ACER say that it works fine with the ST, but the mono mode is not 
    exceptionally sharp...with the mono mode being just a tad fuzzy, they 
    found it difficult to do any lengthy mono work...Basically,  you  get 
    what you pay for in multisynchs. The ACER is very reasonably priced.

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

 From Kevin Engler on CIS concerning whether you can use a Seagate ST238R 
 IBM hard drive on a ST...
    You  can  use the ST238R with an ST,  but not  the  controller  card, 
    simply  because it's designed for an IBM's motherboard  slots  (which 
    the ST doesn't have).  You still need a controller,  host adapter  (I 
    HIGHLY recommend ICD's),  and a power supply. Unless you're cash flow 
    situation  is  really tight,  I'd recommend going with  a  commercial 
    unit.  As to which one,  they're pretty similar,  although you  can't 
    beat ICD's support. Check with your local dealer (if you have one).

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

 Question by Robert Huggins on CIS...
    Spectre 3.0 is working like a dream except for one extremely annoying 
    item...I  end up with my screen display shifted either 0.25" or  0.5" 
    to the left.  Sometimes the display jumps over 0.25" and stays there, 
    other times it will jump another 0.25",  and,  sometimes, it goes for 
    the  whole half inch right at first...when the screen  display  moves 
    the *new* slice of display on the far left is showing what used to be 
    on the far right hand side of the display.  In other words,  my  hard 
    drive  icons,  which are on the far right side of my screen  suddenly 
    "move" to the far left hand side.  Also.  these icons are accessed by 
    moving  the mouse cursor to the far right side,  watching the  cursor 
    disappear, and searching for it on the left hand side.  Any ideas?

 Answer from George Richardson (Merlin Group, Inc.) on CIS...
    ...what  you're describing is a hardware problem that I've seen  many 
    times.  It really has nothing to do with Spectre,  although for  some 
    reason  Spectre seems to cause it to happen more often than  anything 
    else.  This is usually caused by a defective GLUE chip,  but it could 
    also be caused by the MMU chip.  The system is not issuing the  hori-
    zontal  sync at the correct time...The SST *really*  aggravates  this 
    condition.

 A reply from a "happy camper", Robert Huggins, on CIS...
    ...as  I had a spare GLU chip,  I took a screwdriver into  my  sweaty 
    hand  and swapped out the current one.  Reseated the MMU while I  had 
    the case open.  Did everything I could think of to cause the loss  of 
    synch  (certain actions seemed to always cause it) and am  unable  to 
    force the screen to "slip." Looks like it's "happy camper" time  once 
    again.

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


 Until next week.....



       _____________________________________________________________







 > WINDSOR REPORT STR SHOW NEWS        EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORTS!
   ============================




                        WINDSOR ATARI SHOW REPORTS
                        ==========================




 THE WINDSOR ATARI SHOW
 ======================

 Eyewitness Report 1


 by Andrew Learner


     What a lovely city, Windsor is. Truly amazing since it is right across
 the river  from Detroit.   You  cross over  to the  Canadian side via this
 monstrous black suspension bridge,  which glitters  with lights  at night,
 and pass  through a  check point.  If you have nothing to declare,(ie pur-
 chases, tobacco, booze etc.) they pass  you  right  through.  The  city is
 clean,  and  tidy...people  actually  walk  the  streets right through the
 evening, children play carelessly.  Windsor/Detroit International Atarife-
 st, was  held in  the huge gymnasium of the St. Clair college.  It is just
 over the river from Detroit, about a forty  minute trip  from Detroit air-
 port. I  guess I  enjoyed this  show.   When you come back from any event,
 thoroughly exhausted, but excited about what you have done or  seen, it is
 cause for enjoyment.  To say I had some fun is an understatement.

     This trip wasn't without some grief though.  I started out the trip by
 missing my  plane.   As a  few of  you might  know, I  casually offered my
 airline ticket  for sale  at our  last club meeting.  Due to my continuing
 unemployment, I was thinking of not  going. Then,  friend and  club member
 Jeff Raders called me late last week, and suggested that I be his guest in
 Detroit, as he had to stay over the weekend, his  company had  him working
 in Michigan  this week  anyway. I nearly missed the flight on the way back
 also.  We were busy at the hotel playing with the new software, and sliced
 the time very thin.

     I pondered  it anyway.  I knew  that there  were going to be many bar-
 gains, of both software and hardware.  I would have  to really  be careful
 not spend  too much money.  Okay, I'll admit it was like being a "kid in a
 candy store"!  Even though our local shows in Gurnee  have turned  out the
 people, I  haven't seen  an event  with so  much dealer/developer support.
 Atari Canada, and US were both represented.

     The bargains were unbelievable.   STacy  2 -  $1300, Mega  STe4 $1400,
 color stereo monitors - $475. These were the Canadian prices!(subtract 18%
 for US prices)   The elusive TT030  was there  to be  purchased, right off
 the floor.   They sold the last one for $2100 (that's $1722 US folks!)  At
 the beginning of the show, the TT030's were  stacked 40  high! Every piece
 sold! Of  course the software bargains were in abundance, and too numerous
 list here. Just imagine every program available for the ST,  at a fraction
 of the original price!  Even the developers themselves had a few bargains.
 But, I couldn't find a new  BBS program  anywhere. Oh  well, I  guess it's
 mail time.


                            SCREAMING GADGETS!

     The highlight  for me  , was  hearing Dave Small lecture about his new
 board for the Mega, the SST030.  To  say it  is just  an accelerator board
 isn't doing  it justice.   His  "published" clock  speed is 33Mhz, for the
 CPU, and quotes some  startling Q-Indexes.  (Like 3500%  increase in speed
 over the normal ST!) Improved technology impresses me yes, but, the manner
 in which Small delivers a talk is captivating.  Both sessions he gave were
 filled to  the rafters,  with curious  ATARIANS. Dave mentioned that Atari
 has already  licensed him  to include  the new  TOS 2.02,  with his board.
 Judging from  his descriptions  of past  dealings with the Corp, this feat
 was nothing short of miraculous.  One major difference I can see immediat-
 ely about  the SST, is that most all the current software will in fact run
 in the system.  If the particular program,  doesn't like  the faster clock
 speed, the  board reduces  it's speed  to a  comfortable level the program
 will endure, without breaking. (Dave  uses  the  word  "break"  instead of
 "crash").

     All  the  standard  peripherals,  monitors,  etc, are still supported.
 George Richards, is working on a  series of  video boards,  one which will
 display 256  colors from  a palette of 16 million! If all this sounds like
 mumbo-jumbo, voodoo  electro-babble, I  have left  out most  all the tech-
 no-stuff.   If you  are of a mind to find out this sort of stuff, read one
 of Small's articles.  He writes as cleverly  as he  talks.   You will hear
 much adieux,  about this board, I'm sure.  But just read his stuff for the
 lighter side effects of his work.

     During this past weeks GEnie online  conference, Dave  and George fie-
 lded questions  regarding the  board.  And on the spur of the moment whim,
 Small gave away through a roll of the dice one  of the  new boards.  I was
 number 25, number 24 won!





 THE WINDSOR ATARI SHOW
 ======================

 Eyewitness Report 2




               A GREAT SHOW FOR SEEING ALL THE NEW GOODIES!
               ============================================


 by Dan Stidham

     St. Claire's Community College in Windsor, Ontario was the site of the
 first ever international Atarifest co-ordinated by  user groups  from dif-
 ferent countries--The  Windsor Atari  User's Group and the Washtenaw Atari
 User's Group. Official show direction was provided by Brian Cassidy of the
 Windsor group  and Craig Harvey of the Washtenaw group who also happens to
 be the author of an excellent editing/hacking utility called EdHak.

 Woulda made PT Barnum proud...
 ------------------------------
  
     Key promotional assistance for the show was provided by Bill and Patti
 Rayl of  Atari Interface Magazine.  From reading online posts and speaking
 with the Rayls personally, this show was one of the most thoroughly promo-
 ted  Atari  events  in  memory.  Promotion tools were diverse and included
 advertisements in the Detroit Free Press, the Windsor Star, the  Ann Arbor
 News and several other local papers. According to Bill Rayl, the newspaper
 ads ran for a month prior to the  show at  a cost  of over  1,000 dollars.
 Detroit and  Windsor area  stations ran a special ad on network affiliated
 TV stations (as a public service) and a local cable  station ran  a half--
 hour show  dedicated to  the Atari line of computers and the upcoming show
 every night for a week prior to the show. Over  200 copies  of a  show kit
 were sent  out to various usergroups in the mid-west, New York and Canada.
 Ads were also ran  in national  ST publications  such Atari  Interface, ST
 Informer with  press releases  sent to ST Journal, Current Notes and Atari
 Explorer.

     Personally I felt the facilities (taking into account that it   wasn't
 held in a hotel convention center) were top-notch, the best I have seen. A
 large colorful Atari banner hung over  an information  table where tickets
 were  being  sold  near  the  entrance  of the main lobby for the college.
 After buying your ticket for four dollars(US or CND) you  would go  down a
 long hallway,  make a  right then  a left, pass by a small concession area
 and enter the double doors of  a huge  gymnasium. The  booths were  set up
 around  the  perimeter  of  the  gymnasium with three island strips in the
 middle of the floor. There was plenty of room to walk around,  even if the
 show-goers were two or three deep in front of booths. The booths were pro-
 fessionally set-up with blue curtains used over a booth frame.  

     Atari was there with a double wide, double  deep booth  displaying all
 of their  latest hardware  including the  TT030, the  1040STe and the Mega
 STe, Portfolio and the incredibly good-looking and sleek SLM605 laser pri-
 nter.   Their booth was back to back with a large Atari dealer out of Tor-
 onto, Canada called Savetech, whom Atari Canada had  supplied with  an in-
 ventory that would make a red-blooded American ST'er turn green with envy.
 Large stacks of hardware in boxes made up the bulk of a  pretty impressive
 display.   And just  what was  in them  thar boxes? TT030/2/50's, Mega STe
 4/50's, 520STfm's with SC1224 monitors, Megafile30's and 60's,  1040 STe's
 and Stacy 2 portables with 20 meg hard drives.  The prices were also great
 which I will get into later.  Savetech took out a large ad in a local Win-
 dsor paper  detailing the  inventory they  would have at the Windsor show.
 The ad was very professional looking and included  pictures of  the "TT030
 Graphics Workstation", the Mega STe, etc.  The prices were even more impr-
 essive, the likes of which I  will get  into later  in this  article.  (my
 Windsor video,  announced in  a press  release elsewhere  in this issue of
 STReport, has some thorough footage of the Savetech  booth and  a close-up
 shot of  the ad  they ran).   The  dynamic duo of Atari/Savetech was posi-
 tioned strategically, smack dab in the middle of the floor and made up the
 entirety of a large squarish middle island.

 Canadian Customs...quite a tradition, eh?
 ----------------------------------------

     Many dealers  took advantage  of a  generous offer  by Atari Canada to
 provide loaner machines to  avoid the  hassle of  bringing their equipment
 across the  border, and  a hassle it was.  I produced a video for the show
 and had brought along lots of video gear while my assistant, Scott Haynes,
 brought along  an Atari  Mega ST2,  hard drive  and monitor.   The customs
 people stopped us for about an hour as they suspiciously  checked over all
 of our  equipment.   I knew  we were in trouble when the customs agent saw
 the Atari logo and commented, "What's wrong with Amiga eh?  Why  don't you
 have an  Amiga eh?".   Scrambling  to stay  under the  good graces of this
 apparently brain-washed bureaucrat, I groveled unashamedly and said, "Geez
 thats funny you should mention that because I am into video and I was just
 telling my friend here (Scott), how I wish  the Atari  would come  up with
 some  good  GENLOCKing  hardware  and  software to go along with their new
 genlocking and graphics capabilities, and how if I had an Amiga I could do
 all my video-editing on the computer ala Desktop Video on the Amiga." 

     Dropping my  head in  betrayed disgust, the customs agent looked at me
 pitifully while I shook my head.  Moved with compassion for a  fellow byt-
 e-meister who  apparently had not seen the light and was suffering for the
 error of his ways, the Yogi-bear looking agent, folding his arms and lean-
 ing back  on the car parked next to ours, took a deeply reflective breath,
 and proceeded to elucidate mercilessly and  smugly on  the perfectness and
 completeness of  his Amiga  world, and  how he was using it in his organic
 chemical business to make brochures(yes the guy was  a self-taught organic
 chemical marketing mavin).  After about 10 to fifteen minutes of contrived
 amazement (using such expressions as, "No!? Really" and "Something Else!")
 the customs  agent seemed satisfied that he had put us in our pitiful, sl-
 ime-pit place and let us go.  By  the way,  he mentioned  that all  of the
 customs  agents   used  Amigas   (which  is  probably  why  many  Atarians
 experienced hassles crossing over).

     Early commitments to the show were slow coming in but the event gathe-
 red alot  of steam  and snowballed  the last  coupla months (hows that for
 mixing metaphors?) with over 36 vendors  and developers  exhibiting inclu-
 ding Gadgets  by Small, Codehead Software, Double-Click, Gribnif, DA Brum-
 leve with her kidprg's, GoldLeaf, ICD,  Branch Always,  MegaType, MS Desi-
 gns, Nice and Software, Rimik Enterprises, SKWare One, Wiz Works, Dr. Bob,
 C-HQ, Unicorn Publications, Taylor Ridge, Phil Comeau, Intrinsic Software,
 Music   Code and  lots and lots of vendors (there was plenty of competiti-
 on).

     Having said all of the above, there are  not alot  of excuses  to make
 for an  honestly disappointing  turnout.  Everything was done up right and
 all the right people came to this party.  Great  facilities, unprecedented
 advertising, major developers, fanatical ST users--it should all add up to
 2-3 deep in front of booths.  As it turned out I  had very  little trouble
 getting good shots with my camera and experienced very few incidents where
 a giant blob would fill my viewfinder.   Maybe the  only legitimate excuse
 is there  ain't that many of us fanatical users out there.  But then again
 maybe there were those, state-wide,  who  felt  there  would  be  too much
 trouble crossing over; this may be a good possibility but still an excuse.


     Nevertheless, despite  the fairly  low turnout the per capita sales of
 nearly all the developers I spoke with were very satisfactory.   Myself, I
 had a great time as I always do when I get to meet up with fellow ST users
 and developers.  So my verdict: It may  have been  a disappointing turnout
 but if  you turned out it wasn't disappointing.  Final attendance has been
 estimated from between 800 to 1200  for the  two day  show.   I definitely
 have to  go with  the latter  number.  There were approximately 500 people
 attending Saturday and 700 on Sunday.

     Moving on one discovered many new  products and  upgrades as  one went
 from booth to booth:

                    **********************************
                                Atari Corp.
                    **********************************

     On hand  from Atari US and Atari Canada were Bob Brodie, US manager of
 Usergroup Services, Geoff Earle,  Atari Canada  President and  GM, and Rob
 McGowan and Mark Campbell of Atari Canada.  This group of Atari payrollees
 underscored the downright friendliness and approachability of Atari's cor-
 porate staff.  They jumped right into the crowd discussing Atari's market-
 ing plans and products.  They genuinely seemed  to be  having a  good time
 and were  very upbeat about the product line in their booth which included
 the TT030, the Mega  STe, the  highly successful  Portfolio, an incredibly
 good-looking and  _quiet_ SLM605  laser printer  that hooked  up to the TT
 running Calamus that constantly was cranking  out some  incredible looking
 documents.

     Also on  display in  the booth  was the STacy 2 with 20 meg hard drive
 and a 1040 STe  running some  colorful demos.   Geoff  Earle also revealed
 during his video interview a price reduction, announced shortly before the
 show, of the 1040 STe to $499 Canadian from a previous price  of $695.   I
 understood,  but  could  not  confirm,  that Atari US has also reduced the
 price on the 1040 STe's, the  only new  computer in  the Atari  line to be
 licensed for home use, to $399.

                       *****************************
                               Branch Always
                       *****************************

     If there  was any  doubt as to Darek Mihocka's continued commitment to
 the Atari platform it was completely obliterated at this show.   Darek was
 demoing an upcoming release of Quick ST 3.0 that he billed (and proved) as
 being even faster that the present release of  2.2.   Q-ST 3  will feature
 acceleration of  line A functions and even faster GEM functions, impacting
 the speed of some DTP applications.   But  this, like,  just scratches the
 surface.   Quick ST  3.0 which  will be  commercially released at the Van-
 couver Atari Festival, will feature even more customization options inclu-
 ding  customized  fonts  and  desktop  icons with the font and icon editor
 built-in.

     Background picture  customization, which  has always  been an integral
 part of  Q-ST will now allow Prism Paint formats (Lexicor's paint program)
 and (surprise) Windows 3 files besides  the standard  Degas and  Neo pics.
 You will  now be  able to  download all  of those  great Windows pics from
 GEnie or your favorite BBS and use them as your desktop picture.  Q-ST 3.0
 will also  allow background  (and provide sample pics on disk) pictures on
 every TT resolution setting  including 1280  by 960,  the latter requiring
 about 150K.   Darek  told me that Chet Walters and the guys from Wiz Works
 are going to help him find some nice img's for that rez to include  on the
 disk.

     The new version of Quick View that will come with Q-ST 3.0 allow view-
 ing of all these pics and  if you  decide, "Yeah,  thats the  one...", all
 you'll have  to do is press a toggle key and it will instantly become your
 new back- ground.  If that  wasn't enough  customization, you  will now be
 able to  customize everything  for individual programs--as Darek states in
 his BraSoft newsletter (which he was giving away at the  show), "...if you
 like to  use one font with ST Word and another font with Flash!, or have a
 custom desktop pic with PageStream but one with Word Up, so be it..."

     Believe it or not, I have saved the most impressive  for last.   Darek
 showed me  a new  version of  MonSTEr that  will allow emulation of any TT
 resolution on any ST screen! I saw it in action and it  was operating very
 smoothly.    MonSTEr  will  also  allow  the user to customize his virtual
 screen to any matrix the user wishes (for instance, say, 700 by 700) up to
 a certain yet-to-be-determined limit.  I personally feel that this version
 of MonSTEr could sell all by itself for Quick ST 3.0's new  price of 34.95
 list but,  wonder of  wonders, in  the tradition  of power without the MAC
 price, Darek is bundling it with Q-ST 3.0.


                    **********************************
                                   C-HQ
                    **********************************

     C-HQ stands for Command  HeadQuarters and  if any  of you  were at the
 WAACE show  last year,  these were the fellas helping work WizWorks booth.
 C-HQ had on display its full line of in-house artist rendered and superbly
 scanned IMG  and Degas clipart disks.  C-HQ was also selling disks of cus-
 tomized NeoDesk and DC Desktop Icons with over 1200 icons  included on one
 disk! Each  of around  ten clipart disks had a special theme and were sel-
 ling for a ridiculous price of $10.00.  I don't  know if  this was  a show
 price or  not but  the quality  for the price should have been too good to
 pass up (guess who forgot to buy a couple in the midst of taking notes and
 asking questions?) for anyone who uses DTP.  


                     *********************************
                              Clear Thinking
                     *********************************

     Craig Harvey,  president of  Waug in  Washtenaw, MI,  one of the spon-
 soring user-groups of this show, is the author of the popular editing/hac-
 king utility  EdHak, previously available as shareware from various online
 services.  While interviewing Craig at his booth  to gather  info for this
 article, I  was so  impressed with  EdHak's functionality and practicality
 that I purchased a copy as  did my  video assistant  Scott Haynes.   EdHak
 2.13 can  be run as either a DA or program by simply changing the file ex-
 tender, and is packed full of features that can accessed from a  drop down
 menu within the file window or with keyboard equivalents.  I found some of
 its more useful features in Edit mode (as opposed to Hak mode which can be
 entered  via  an  ALT-T  toggle)  which included the ability to append and
 merge files on-the-fly within the editing window.  Are you  keeping a run-
 ning account  of something  or keeping a diary? EdHak features an autoload
 feature that will, upon boot-up (if EdHak is installed as an accessory) or
 when the  program is  run from  the desktop,  automatically load in a text
 file (your diary for instance).  Further enhancing its diary usefulness is
 the ability to append, auto-stamp dates (in any format you wish), and enc-
 rypt files.  Other features include launching of programs (PRG,  not TOS),
 word-wrap, search  and replace,  block cut and paste and text macros.  En-
 tering Hak mode is as easy as pressing ALT-T (T for toggle as Craig expla-
 ined).   In this  mode EdHak  acts as  a very versatile disk sector or RAM
 editor.  There's lots more but suffice it  to say,  in Craig's  own words,
 "EdHak is the ST DA and PRG that is there when you need to edit anything."
 I guess you could expect to pay a pretty fair price if you were purchasing
 this great  little utility  for one  of the  other platforms but Craig was
 offering it for an unbelievable $15.00  show  price  (US)  with  a regular
 retail of $18.95.  

     I own STeno and am now using it to compile this report ( I haven't had
 a chance to install EdHak yet) but I would have to say  that EdHak  is the
 best text editor available at its price.  By the way, the documentation is
 excellent and features a keyboard command  summary which  can be separated
 from the rest of the manual.

     Hold  on  just  a  minute,  Craig was also demoing this strange little
 program called MetaPsychology that offered  a  tutorial  and  quizzes that
 offered a  pretty sophisticated  examination of  ones psyche.  Word has it
 that Craig is going to link this program with EdHak and allow  you to edit
 your head  if you want! Amazing! Anyway this GEM driven program was pretty
 popular at $9.00 US and  sold,  according  to  Craig,  fourteen  copies on
 Saturday.  What a curious lot, them thar ST'ers.


                    **********************************
                                 Codehead
                    **********************************

     Besides giving  me one  of the most memorable moments I have ever had,
 (buy the video!), Charles Johnson was on hand with John  Eidsvoog demoing,
 along with HotWire and Codekeys, their latest upgrade to Maxifile, version
 3.0.  Its list of features is quite long and features a unique scroll box,
 allowing one  to scroll through source and destination files simultaneous-
 ly.  Charles told me that  this  upgrade  is  so  complete  and thoroughly
 packed with features, many of which were requested by Maxifile users, that
 Codehead, so far, hasn't received any further suggestions in the box.
   

                    **********************************
                               D A Brumleve
                    **********************************

     Dorothy Brumleve was again  the favorite  attraction for  those little
 bit-meisters as  her booth  offered a  chance to  try out her colorful and
 easy-to-use Kidprgs.  Dorothy had two  1040STe's set-up,  each one running
 either KidPublisher, KidPainter, KidGrid or Telegram; the latter being the
 most recent release, fall of 1990 at the Waace show.   Dorothy  had one of
 the more interesting table displays at the show.  All four of her programs
 were slotted into a staircase display made up of large colorful pre-school
 Duplo blocks.

     Dot reported  that on  Sunday she actually sold a couple of ST systems
 to parents who had  been contemplating  a system  for the  family and were
 impressed with the entertaining and educational Kidprgs.  Dot promptly and
 personally escorted them over to the Savetech booth  in the  middle of the
 floor where they made their first-ever ST purchase.  Way to go Dot!


                    **********************************
                               Double-Click 
                    **********************************

     Demoing DC  Desktop, DC  Shower and  other offerings in a quiet little
 corner booth were them  Texas boys,  Mike Vederman  and Paul  Lee.   I was
 really impressed  with Paul  Lee's new-found  Canadian accent.  Seems like
 this guy readily adapts to regional  flavors and  reminds me  of Woody Al-
 len's _Zelig_.   Anyway  explaining to  me that  DC Shower was not an X-10
 type of controller for  all of  your bathroom  plumbing, Paul demonstrated
 that when  installed in  an auto folder, DC Shower will enable you to view
 anything from the desktop, just by double-clicking on it.  Anything inclu-
 des arc files, all kinds of picture formats, and text files.

     UIS 3.3  now can  incorporate the  functionality of DC Shower from its
 own Show selection, therefore enabling one who has UIS installed  as a DA,
 the ability to view the above within any GEM program.


                    **********************************
                             Gadgets By Small
                    **********************************

     The focus  of this  booth was  definitely on the 68030 SST accelerator
 board that is very close to release.  According to Dave Small,  waiting on
 PC boards from the manufacturers is the only thing holding up its release.
 "Specializing in  speed and  compatibility", Gadgets  has tried  to walk a
 delicate balance of speed and software compatibility as they developed and
 tested out this unit.  Initial testing has proven successful  and although
 I cannot  give a  compatibility list, we can be sure that Gadgets By Small
 is obsessed as though it were  their mission  from God  to make  sure your
 favorite program  runs (witness  Spectre GCR).   Atari reports that 80% of
 its existing software library runs on the TT so you'll  get at  least that
 kind of  harmony coupled  with Gadgets  "fixes" to  tune up lots more com-
 patibility problems.

     To try and give even a brief overview  of the  engineering genius that
 went into  this product  would cover many more paragraphs than appropriate
 for this report.  But gleaning the excellent article in Gadgets own promo-
 tional literature Dave passed out at the show, one discovers that speeding
 up memory access by allowing you to upgrade your Mega 4 with up to  8 megs
 of  fastRAM  is  the  theoretical  basis  on which dave has approached the
 design of his accelerator.  Dave is providing some fastRAM  utilities that
 will run  transparently in  the auto  folder ensuring  the loading of your
 programs into fastRAM.  A coprocessor  socket is  also included  that will
 receive a  68881/2 floating  point chip,  with the chip coming standard in
 the 33 MHZ SST.

     Dave has also taken a modular approach to marketing and  packaging the
 SST to  allow the user to determine his entry point and upgrade path.  For
 instance if you (or  your pocketbook)  are satisfied  with a  16 MHZ 68030
 SST, you  can start  there and  upgrade in the future.  This approach will
 also allow users to buy their own chips in case they can get them cheaper.


                   ************************************
                                  Gribnif
                   ************************************

     Gribnif, as always, was one of the more popular booths  with many show
 goers taking  advantage of the ability to upgrade on the fly.  Rick Flash-
 man and Tricia Metcalf were on hand demoing Neodesk 3.0, the up and coming
 upgrade to  the Neo  CLI and  CardFile 2.0.   Gribnif bought the rights to
 this indispensable schedule and address accessory, added a  few things and
 wrote a nifty manual.  

     Major Neo CLI upgrade features include a configurable, scrollable his-
 tory (very powerful implementation) and the  ability to  write batch files
 that will allow the use of the mouse to choose selections in a menu.

     I think  Gribnif was  quite surprised  that several show-goers brought
 colaware payments to the booth for their popular FormDoIt dialog  box cus-
 tomizer.  I hope they had room to bring back all those twelve packs!

                     ********************************
                                 GoldLeaf
                     ********************************

     GoldLeaf Publishing was on hand demoing WordFlair II, the front end to
 the new great line of products they are now marketing under the "Direct to
 Press" banner.   Although they did not have ReTouche Professional running,
 they did have an absolutely beautiful  slide-show running,  that demonstr-
 ated the fruits of its incredible drawing and photo retouching capabiliti-
 es.  I started to videotape just a few of the pics and was so awed  that I
 kept the camera rolling and captured the whole demo on the show tape.

     GoldLeaf was also demoing ProFlight on a TT.  Imported from Europe, it
 is a simulator so realistic as  to having  a high  degree of instructional
 potential.  

     It does  seem that GoldLeaf is executing a very organized game plan to
 become one of the major publishers  and distributors  of high-end software
 in the USA.

                     *********************************
                                    ICD
                     *********************************

     Jeff Williams,  ICD's new  public relations  officer, was on hand with
 another very friendly fellow (don't shoot me, I  forgot to  write his name
 down!),  meeting  show-goers,  selling  host adapters and accessories, and
 showing off the ICD FAST tape  back-up unit.   The  tape back-up  unit was
 selling for a show special $849.00.

                     ********************************
                                 Intrinsic
                     ********************************

     Intrinsic  Software  from  Toronto,  Canada, was demoing and selling a
 very solid command line  interpreter, called  (what else?)  Command!, com-
 plete in  its features  and able to run as either a DA or a program.  Reg-
 ular price on this  is $24.95  while Intrinsic  offered a  show special of
 just $19.95.

                      *******************************
                               ISD Marketing
                      *******************************

     Seen throughout  the show roaming the floor, harassing fellow vendors,
 and demoing  DynaCadd and  Calamus was  Nathan Potechin,  president of ISD
 Marketing.   Mario Georgiou  from ISD was also there demoing the new, soon
 to be released, version of Calamus SL, showing off its color capabilities.
 To be  honest with  you I  was probably more fascinated by this guys great
 french accent than anything  else.   SL was  being run  on a tower-encased
 TT030.   I videographed  this as  well as  most other reports mentioned in
 this article on the Windsor video.

                      ******************************
                                 MegaType
                      ******************************

     Don Turnock was demoing and selling his Fontverter program as  well as
 two excellent  imports called  Font Designer  and Font Designer Plus.  The
 latter will create and  edit type  1 Adobe  fonts with  hinting, while the
 former allows for Type 3 font creation.

     Don also  had available a great little utility called Type 1 Converter
 that allows one to load in an industry standard type 1 font  and export it
 into .ECF(font  Designer Format)  for subsequent conversion and export for
 use in an ST PostScript application.

     Font Designer was selling for $95.00,  Font Designer  Plus for 175.00,
 FontVerter for  $45.00 and  the Type  1 Converter  for $35.00.  Seems like
 MegaType is quite a one-stop source  for all  Calamus and  PageStream font
 editors and aficionados!

     One note:  MegaType was  also carrying  the Safari product line, fonts
 and EPS clipart, from Computer Safari in Woodland,  CA.   I took advantage
 of a  tremendous offer  on the huge Clipables EPS clipart selection.  Sel-
 ling normally for $125.00, MegaType had it on sale for $85.00.   This col-
 lection contains  over 600  illustrations in  a variety  of themes.  Every
 graphic is depicted by classification and references to its disk number in
 the catalogue.  The catalogue was originally meant for the MAC but applies
 equally as well to the ST version which Computer Safari  has licensed from
 C.A.R.   Publishing, taking all the hassle of ST conversion into their own
 hands.

                     ********************************
                                MS Designs
                     ********************************

     MS Designs had a booth next to MegaType and was  displaying a  line of
 fonts for  both Calamus  and PageStream.   Most  of the fonts were display
 fonts and all ten groups of display fonts sold for a show special $160.00.
 MS also  had two  clipart value  packages containing IMG clipart at a show
 special $10.00 (regular price, $20.00).

                      *******************************
                                 MusicCode
                      *******************************

     MusicCode was  displaying  a  critically  appraised  voice development
 system along  with a  program of  a entirely different color, BlackJack 3.
 This program boasted the  capability to  teach casino-style  blackjack and
 promises to  enhance your  performance (wonder  if that  means you'll play
 with style  while you  are losing  money or  you'll win  with a wild-eyed,
 crazed look?).  BlackJack 3 was selling for $59.95 and had a beautiful and
 complete screen display (see it in the video!).

                      *******************************
                              Nice & Software
                      *******************************

     Nice &  Software pulled  no punches  with their  display, simulating a
 point of  sale terminal(two of them) made up of the ST and monitor running
 the Cricit integrated Cash Register and Inventory Control package.  Called
 the Cricit  Bar Code Plus System, Nice and Software boasted that you could
 own this complete system for the price of a cash  register (minus bar-code
 hardware).   The Cricit  system allows  for bar-code reading directly from
 packaging, customized receipts, mailing lists, periodic  reports, lay away
 searching, auto-discounting,  stock searches, issuance of coupons, ability
 to network up to six cash registers and more.   This system  is incredibly
 easy to  use and so much fun playing around with that you want to start up
 a retail business just so you  can use  this software  (OK, I  got carried
 away).   Questioning Igor Tertysznyj (hey! isn't it illegal to string that
 many consonants  together?), he  revealed that  there are  over 500 Cricit
 systems installed worldwide.

     Nice &  Software now also carries a neat little box called the DMA sw-
 itcher that among other functions, will allow you  to turn  your SLM laser
 printer off  if its not in use.  Four DMA devices or four computers can be
 hooked up to the A/B/C/D ports  depending on  whether you  want to network
 one device to four computers or four devices to one computer.

     Nice was  also showing its Lantech 10 megabit local area network cart-
 ridge, boasting 10 times the speed of SGSnet, which uses the midi  port to
 accomplish its  networking.   On its  show flyer Nice claimed that Lantech
 can transfer a 400K file in 17 seconds as compared to SGS's  2 minutes and
 45 seconds.  Selling for 179.00 per node, Igor Tertysznyj of Nice informed
 me that the UIS Net software was actually developed on a Lantech and works
 quite well with it.

                     ********************************
                                Phil Comeau
                     ********************************

     Phil's GramSlam  software was  being demo'ed  and claims  to check for
 over 1200 common grammar and writing-style problems.  It works in conjunc-
 tion with all word processors and text editors and even checks for spacing
 problems, unbalanced parentheses, doubled  words, incorrect abbreviations,
 and  obnoxious  spiels  (just  kidding).   Phil was also demoing TreeSaver
 ("Save a Tree Today").  TreeSaver  claims it  works with  most dot matrix,
 ink jet and laser printers.  One nice feature is its ability to run either
 as a DA or from the desktop as a program.

     A look at Phil's sample printout reveals one of its biggest departures
 from  the  ever-popular  DoublePage  Printer  IV by Doug Wheeler.  Whereas
 Doug's program prints two pages side-by-side in landscape  mode, TreeSaver
 prints with a portrait orientation.  TreeSaver was selling for $24.95 CND;
 GramSlam $39.95 CND.

                      *******************************
                             Rimik Enterprises
                      *******************************

     Richard Betson, formerly of Talon Technology, has gone  out on  his on
 his own  and was  present at  the show  showing some interesting products.
 Richard had one computer running MultiGEM, a mulitasking product from Eur-
 ope that  seems to use the desk accessory slots to load in six independent
 programs.  MultiGEM allows the user to adjust and allocate  memory used by
 programs, even  those who  like to  claim all the memory to themselves and
 claims the ability to run TOS based programs.   After  having some initial
 problems getting the program set up, I later came by the booth and noticed
 it running, seemingly without a hitch, Retailing for $99.95, MultiGEM will
 work with  ST's and  STe's running TOS 1.2 or higher.  Richard stated that
 the active window of the six programs being multitasked receives priority,
 but emphasized that processing still occurs in all other programs.

     Richard also had an interface attached to an ST color system employing
 the light gun used by the 8 bit  machines.   Several kids  and adults were
 seen shooting skeet out of the air with it (similar to duckhunt).  Richard
 promised that the ST light pen would be  out on  the market  very soon and
 come bundled with the skeet game.

 Also being  displayed was  the Menu Plus program launcher and DT Paint, an
 accessory pant program for DTP'ers.  


                      *******************************
                                 Savetech
                      *******************************

     For Americans  at the  show the  Savtech booth  was a  revelation to a
 totally different  world.   Easily the largest booth in the show, Savetech
 featured stacks and stacks of Atari product for sale to the general public
 that can  be obtained only from VAR's in the states, let alone in the mid-
 dle of an exhibition hall.  TT030/4 with 50 mg hard drives were stacked in
 a display  20 boxes  high and  were being blown out at $2300 CND by show's
 end.  The exchange rate being 13:10 on that day, this translated  into ap-
 proximately $1800  US.   Stacy 2's  with 20 meg hard drives were being of-
 fered for $1350 CND (about $1,000 US).  Mega STe's  were available  on the
 first day  of the show for $1,900 CND and dropped another $300 CND on Sun-
 day (approximately 1200 US).  Portfolios  could be  had for  $250 CND, 520
 STFM's with color monitors for $450 CND, and 1040 STe's for $440 CND.  How
 'bout (pronounced boat in Canada) the archaic little  SX212 1200  baud mo-
 dems selling for $20 CND?


                      *******************************
                                SKWare One
                      *******************************

     One of  the first  products I  wanted to  see upon arrival was SK Ware
 One's ColorScan program.  Even though I was  disappointed that  this nifty
 little program  didn't do  what I  was dreaming  of (true reproductions of
 color from scanned image) I was still impressed  with the  quality of con-
 version it  did.   This program will take a scanned img file, convert to a
 color picture of your  palette choice  (different shades  of red  or blue,
 etc) and then export it in eight different formats.  It does highly detai-
 led work with no staircasing and the results are beautiful.   For  $59 you
 can't go  wrong with  it.  ColorScan is an impressive program with lots of
 potential and has been in development for over six months.


                      *******************************
                               Taylor Ridge
                      *******************************

     Taylor Ridge reps were on  hand  selling  copies  of  Clayton Walnum's
 C-Manship book  and program-listing  disks ($19.95  US for book and $10 US
 for two listing disks).  Also being sold was a book titled Beyond Nintendo
 Masters co-written by Clayton Walnum and Andy Eddy, and forwarded by Orson
 Scott Card ($9.95 US)


                      *******************************
                           Unicorn Publications
                      *******************************

     Bill and  Patti Rayl  had alot  of fingers  pointing at  and ooh's and
 aah's floating  in the  direction of their booth.  No, Bill wasn't bending
 forks with his mind, they had  some incredible  Lexicor animations running
 on an STe.  About 10-15 disks of Lexicor animations were being made avail-
 able for $6.00 a disk, 2 for $10.00,  five for  $20.00 and  so on.   About
 half of  them also ran on the older ST's.  I bought all six of the ST com-
 patible disks, ran them as soon as I  got home  and was  very pleased with
 the quality.   I  highly recommend  these to anyone who wants to turn your
 computer into a conversation  piece at  a user  group meeting  or a family
 get-together.

     And, of  course, Bill  and Patti were selling Atari Interface Magazine
 subscriptions and tee-shirts with a past cover silk-screened on the front.


                      *******************************
                                 Wiz Works
                      *******************************

     Chet Walters was demoing the latest version of  MugShot, MugShot Plus,
 version 1.5.  This very easy-to-use, fun-filled, fully icon driven program
 added a Plus to its name for a very good reason.   By clicking  on an icon
 of a  hand painting  a face  you enter  into a full-featured paint program
 with excellent brush and spray control  to fine  tune your  mug creations.
 Of course,  as usual,  Chet was  giving away a free MugShot mug with every
 purchase of MugShot.

     I had  an interesting  and heart  warming experience  at Chet's booth.
 After having  MygShot Plus demo'ed to me and my video guy, we were so imp-
 ressed that we both bought a copy.  Chet then pulled out  a data  disk and
 gave it  to each of us explaining that he was also impressed by out hones-
 ty, noting that we very well could have copied the  disk.   Wiz Works gets
 very little proportionate return on some great software and I am impressed
 that he would show his users even more respect.

                      *******************************
                                Dr.  Bob's
                      *******************************

     Dr. Bob, William parks was showing the latest update to MVG.  The good
 doctor was  also passing out a large glossy calendar that I saw in lots of
 peoples' hands.  Every once in a while I would see William  walking around
 in shades  trying as  much as  possible to  be incognito and hide from the
 software groupies.



     Finally, Geoff  Earle and  Bob Brodie  announced in  their seminars an
 interesting new program that will be on trial this coming November 23 & 24
 in Chicago, Illinois.  Atari plans on doing  two or  three of  these shows
 where they will work in conjunction with local usergroups to put on a well
 backed extravaganza in top-notch facilities.  Geoff and Bob also announced
 that  workshop  will  be  set  up  at  these  shows that will be manned by
 developers and handles more like a classroom.

     There is so much more I could have reported on  but to  be honest with
 you I have run out of steam and time.  Be sure to look in future issues of
 STReport for more in-depth reviews of  some of  the software  spoken about
 above...  Take care.


    ___________________________________________________________________





 > ATARI INTERVIEW STR InfoFile            Windsor/Detroit Atarifest
   ============================



                           A CHAT WITH G. EARLE
                           ====================



 transcribed by Dan Stidham


 (The following is the transcript of a videotaped interview with Atari Can-
 ada President Geoff Earle, taped  at  the  Windsor/Detroit  Atarifest this
 past weekend.  Interviewing Geoff was Daniel Stidham, producer of the show
 video that is available now for sale.  Contained herein  is some excellent
 topical material,  especially pertaining to the release of new products in
 the US.)

                                 ________

 DAN
 Hello...  we are very pleased to have with us,  Geoff Earle,  Atari Canada
 President and General Manager of overall operations--thank you for joining
 us Geoff--briefly describe your responsibilities at Atari.

 GEOFF
 I am responsible for the bottom line at Atari Canada. I am responsible for
 all the marketing and sales of the Canadian Corporation.

 DAN
 How did you become connected with Atari--where did you start in the organ-
 ization?

 GEOFF
 I got connected with Atari, uh, first of all years  ago, I  used to  be in
 the retail business with a popular Canadian called Nathan Potechin and, uh
 the two of us used to sell alot of commodore 64's.   As a  matter of fact,
 we were the largest independent dealer for that product.  That's how I got
 involved in computers.  We got involved in the Atari line because  some of
 their people went to Atari computers, as you know, they convinced us to do
 that and we did and we evolved from that, from the retail  business, after
 having enough  of that  into various  ventures including some software and
 hardware. We mostly concentrated on the ST line  at that  point because we
 thought that  it was the product for the future.  I came from the software
 background into um, Atari Canada's national sales manager  and assumed the
 position of GM approximately one year ago.

 DAN
 So from  Commodore 64's to Dynacadd on a TT030, that's a pretty good evol-
 ution!

 GEOFF
 I wouldn't call it Dynacadd, I don't think I'm quite as good  as Nathan at
 explaining and marketing its features, but, yeah, thats pretty well it.

 DAN
 What are  Atari's short and long term marketing goals as pertaining to the
 ST/TT line of computers in a very competitive North American market?

 GEOFF
 That's a good question.  Our short and long term goals are  relatively the
 same.   Now I can some it up by saying that we want to provide quality in-
 novative products, high technology, at an affordable price. Now, no matter
 whether thats  a month  down the road or twelve months down the road, that
 will certainly be our focus.  Uh, in Canada as you know,  we are  in a re-
 cession, times  are tough.  We want to offer the consumer good value.  One
 of the ways that we have  done that  is by  taking a  popular product like
 the 1040  STe and  bringing down  the retail  price on that by a couple of
 hundred dollars overnight.

 DAN
 And what is that new price by the way?

 GEOFF
 The street price on the 1040  STe is  $499 Canadian.  That's an incredible
 price.

 DAN
 Wasn't it, at one time, around $650.00, I know that in the USA...

 GEOFF
 $695 Canadian back in February.

 DAN
 Where do  you see Atari in the market.  Do you see Atari as having a small
 niche and if that's so, is Atari satisfied with that  as long  as they can
 be consistent with it?

 GEOFF
 I, uh,  I don't know if Atari corporately is satisfied with that.  I don't
 believe so.  I certainly am not.  I think  that the  hOme market  is some-
 thing that  Atari has  always been  very good  at marketing to, I think we
 should continue to do that and we should continue doing that with products
 like the 1040ste and the Mega STe.  The TT gives us now a different market
 that we can go after and  start to  expand that  market--higher education,
 UNIX systems,  uh, areas  like that uh, and I look forward to that.  Howe-
 ver, in Canada, we are certainly not going to look  over the  home market.
 That, to  me, is  the most  exciting and changing market that is available
 today.

 DAN
 Could you please explain the difference in Atari Canada getting  the TT030
 and Mega STe out to the general public, as compared to the USA's inability
 to do so thus  far.   Is there  a difference  in the  release versions, is
 there different licensing and certification standards? You here innuendos,
 speculation and rumors fly on such online services as GEnie concerning the
 FCC Class B process. You walk out on the exhibition floor and see a vendor
 with a stack of about 20 TT030's.  There must be a good reason for this.

 GEOFF
 Thats my whole warehouse sitting out there at that dealer,  uh, so,(chuck-
 le), um the real reason is that in Canada we can achieve CSA approval alot
 faster, uh, than what they can FCC approval in the US.   Now I  don't know
 why but  the Canadian  testing people  seem alot  quicker to react When we
 have a product that we want to get tested, we apply immediately,  they are
 very quick  in responding, we get the product in, we get it tested, we get
 it approved.

 DAN
 It (TT) is basically the same design as the US version?

 GEOFF
 Its exactly the same.

 DAN
 But they're saying in Canada its fine for home use  but in  the US  so far
 you haven't gotten that type of approval.

 GEOFF
 Thats right,  but I  think FCC  also goes through another approval process
 that has to do with our alpha  emissions.    In  Canada  its  two separate
 processes for  that and they can work simultaneously, but its two separate
 divisions.  And, uh, so we can have this thing done at the same time, con-
 currently, and  approved whereas in the US it goes through the one process
 and then the next.

 DAN
 So its just not true if you have these out in Canada  for home  use, there
 is no reason you would be holding back in the US?

 GEOFF
 You would  have to ask the American authorities on that, there's no reason
 corporately why they would back.

 DAN
 But accusations get thrown all over the online services like, "They're not
 really interested  in the Class B approval, they're just interested in the
 vertical market."  But I guess  Atari can  make the  argument that  if its
 here in  Canada for  home use  there's no reason why they would be holding
 back in the US.

 GEOFF
 You would have to ask the American  authorities  on  that.    There  is no
 reason corporately they would hold back.

 DAN
 But the  substance of  the accusations,  as you know, is that Atari US is,
 presently, content at having its release in the vertical realm  and aren't
 just trying hard enough for general release.

 GEOFF
 In the  seminar we  just had, Bob Brodie said, "Listen, if you hear rumors
 they're just rumors.  Get on GEnie contact Bob Brodie on GEnie and he will
 dispel the rumors."  They are not holding product back specifically in the
 US because they want to mistreat the US consumer.  Thats craziness.  We're
 not in the business to lose money.  You lose money when you do that.

 DAN
 Well, the  TT030 doesn't look like mistreatment to me.  Thats a great com-
 puter and I think I'm ready to buy it whenever it becomes available.

 GEOFF
 Well, I think my dealers have  some good  prices.. so,  you should  buy it
 today in Canada instead of buying it in the US  (smiling).

 DAN
 Well, I'm  waiting for  4 megs  of ST  Ram plus  4 megs of TT FASTram, the
 units you have out there have only the 4 megs of ST ram.

 GEOFF
 We have some in the warehouse I think, we can  probably build  that up for
 you if you need it.   (salesman grin).

 DAN
 (pause) Gosh, he's putting me on the spot here,(laughter),  well...shoot I
 brought my Visa Gold with me  today, I  think I  can meet  that challenge.
 I'm going  to change  gears here  for a moment...  What are  Atari's plans
 for the ST Notebook and what market, when Atari was  developing this, were
 they planning  on aiming  at?  Are they competing with Mac and PC's or are
 they wanting to champion the whole thing, taking  major market  share from
 both platforms  with such a small, easy to use system, lasting hours on AA
 batteries for economy and convenience...

 GEOFF
 Geez, you answered it all so I don't need to! Anyway when we first started
 the interview you asked me if there were any questions/topics not to touch
 on, I said I'd let you know...you now know(laughter)

 DAN
 Oh, OK... 

 GEOFF
 No. no in all fairness, in all fairness...it was a  product that  was dev-
 eloped because  its an  exciting product idea, its innovative, that market
 is going that way, there is alot of notebooks out on the  market now.   We
 think we can do it better and we certainly feel that we can do it at a lot
 better price, which is important.   Thats why  we're there  in the market.
 At the same time we feel like we can make some money with it! There's not-
 hing wrong with that.  The product is not available and will  probably not
 be available  until the  first quarter  of 1991.  So its very premature to
 talk about it now.  I cannot even give you  suggested retail  prices.  Its
 an exciting  product, I  thinks its  certainly a market that if we are not
 in, uh,  our  absence  in  that  market,  uh,  people  will  start  to ask
 questions, and uh, we should be there, so we will be.

 DAN
 By first  quarter next  year you  think?  But there's so many PC notebooks
 out there already.

 GEOFF
 I agree but there is not alot of PC notebooks at what  Atari will  be able
 to offer for, at the price.

 DAN
 Ok, fair  enough.   Last question here.  Any new products that you are al-
 lowed to discuss here that are in development  or can  you talk abstractly
 about the  direction Atari  is going  to take in future development?  Have
 you read John Scully's book detailing his hiring from Pepsico to Apple and
 how he  goes on  in the  book about  how Apple has an R&D philosophy where
 they are looking ahead, say, fifty  years...does Atari  have that  type of
 R&D?

 GEOFF
 I think  we do  but I think our feet are more on the ground.  Anybody that
 can look fifty years ahead is not of this world (smile), and uh, we are of
 this world.  I think that is alot of hype where someone tells you they are
 looking fifty years ahead.   If  we can  look a  year ahead  and two years
 ahead and  three years  ahead and be there with the products, thats excit-
 ing.  One of the things that Atari is trying to attempt, and with  the re-
 organization of Atari where they've moved some of the engineering off site
 and moved it to Dallas, and  they have  engineering in  Israel, all around
 the world  basically, uh we're trying to attempt to always be on the lead-
 ing edge and we're  researching the  new products  that are  there, what's
 going to  be down  there.   Hand-writing recognition is going to be one of
 those products, we want to be  there and  we will  be there.   Fifty years
 down the  road, who  knows.   Next Year?  Yeah, we'll be there with what's
 there next year.

 DAN
 Thank you for an excellent interview, thank you for taking  your time, you
 are an articulate representative for  Atari Canada.




      _______________________________________________________________





 > WINDSOR VIDEO STR InfoFile       "Get 'em while they're hot!"
   ==========================


                

                         ITS HERE AND ITS HAPPENIN'!              
                            announcing the 1991...

                **********************************************
            
                   WINDSOR/DETROIT INTERNATIONAL ATARIFEST
                                      ___      __    ____
                   \       /    |    |   |    |     |    |
                    \     /     |    |   |    |--   |    |
                     \   /      |    |   |    |     |    |
                      \ /       |    |__/     |__   |____|

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


          So  you  couldn't  make  it  to  the show? DON'T WORRY! BE HAPPY!
 Thanks        to the modern miracle  of video  technology AAA  Images will
 bring                       the show to you!

                    NO HOME MOVIE MISH-MASH HERE! NO SIR!!

                       *****************************
                       *                           * 
                       *  PROFESSIONALLY SCRIPTED  *
                       *                           *
                       *****************************

          ENJOY  an  entertaining,  informative,  revealing, and (at times)
          hilarious account of the first international user-group sponsored
                                Atarifest. 

                      ******************************
                                FEATURING...
                      ******************************

                      > Fast-paced video montage of
                        action on the exhibitor floor
                        set to some EXCELLENT background
                        music!

                      > Incredibly vivid screen shots of
                        color ST/TT demo's - Lexicor 
                        animations, GoldLeaf's Retouche
                        slide show presentation, Calamus SL
                        TT030 demo, and many other self-
                        running art and program demos!

                      > Great footage of your favorite devel-
                        opers and Atari guys - Bob Brodie, Atari
                        Canada's President/General Manager 
                        Jeff Earle, Nathan Potechin, Darlah
                        Pine, Dave Small, Elmer Fudd and
                        many, many more!

                      > See stacks of TT030's and Mega STE's on sale
                        to the public!

                      *************************************
                          EXCELLENT INTERVIEWS WITH...
                      *************************************

                      > Jeff Earle - Atari Canada President
                        gives an informative and very artic-
                        ulate interview, outlining major
                        Atari marketing objectives, addressing
                        the controversial FCC Class B quagmire.
                        Jeff also gives us a concise and
                        interesting bio of his computer life 
                        and times.

                      > Nathan Potechin discusses the ISD
                        line of products and reveals how ISD
                        has been working to break down Atari
                        bias in the Fortune 100 business community.

                      > Charles Johnson - this guy was soooo busy
                        that we were only able to corner him
                        in a very compromising position in the
                        St. Clair's Community College Men's Room!!!!
                        SEE THE FIRST AND ONLY INTERVIEW EVER DONE
                        FROM THIS BATHROOM! (take that Geraldo!)
                        With his back to the camera and a mic stuck
                        in his face Mr. Johnson describes the Maxi-
                        file back-door potential, product upgrades,
                        and much more! WHAT A GUY!

                      > Darlah Pine ^Gdiscusses the success of the ST RT
                        on GEnie and reveals future plans! 9600 baud 
                        coming soon?? Find out...

                      > Bill and Patti Rayl of Atari Interface Magazine
                        give an excellent interview discussing the
                        evolution of their ever-increasingly popular
                        magazine and their future plans.

 ************************************************************************  
                   
 A very SERIOUS AND PROFESSIONAL APPROACH was used to produce, script and
 edit this great keepsake. Equipment used: RCA CC311 Pro-Edit, Videonics
 Direct-ED Plus editor w/ graphics/character generation, Vidi-Craft SRT-
 100 A/V mixer, Audio-Technica external mic and Aztec lighting.
 ***********************************************************************

 ***********************************************************************
 This tape was mastered on an extremely high-quality pro-mastering tape.
 ***********************************************************************  

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

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                        3809 Feather Lane
                        Elsmere, KY  41018
                        (606) 342-5660 or (606) 342-9129
                        Enclose a check or money order or your
                        VISA/MC account info as described above.

                      > E-Mail or call/write a COD order (add 3.00
                        for COD)

                   Make checks/money orders payable to AAA Images




                           ____________________________

    



 > CODEHEAD UPDATES! STR InfoFile         SOLID, ONGOING CUSTOMER CARE
   ============




 CodeHeadQuarters
 Friday, May 10, 1991
 For Immediate Release
 ---------------------



                          HOTWIRE & MAXIFILE III
                              New & Improved!



 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - CodeHead Software has announced major upgrades for
 their flagship programs, HotWire and MaxiFile!

     The GEM  Desktop environment of Atari's ST computers is simple to work
 with, but limited in many, many regards.  Windows and  icons are  fine for
 some tasks,  but poorly  suited for  others.   ST software developers have
 been aware of this  from the  beginning, and  a number  have even produced
 "replacement" environments  for users who find GEM too limited.  Strangely
 enough, the most common approach taken in such replacement environments is
 to emulate  the GEM  Desktop!  The Desktop's general look, functionality -
 and drawbacks - are reproduced, with only some additional bells and whist-
 les to make it "better."  But imitating the item you're supposedly replac-
 ing is hardly revolutionary. 

     The approach taken by CodeHead  Software's  HotWire  and  MaxiFile III
 contrasts sharply with that of the GEM desktop and its imitators. 

     HotWire is  a full-featured  program launcher,  which makes running an
 application as easy as picking an item from  a menu  you design.   HotWire
 completely eliminates  the time-wasting  drudgery of  opening window after
 window and folder after folder to run programs.  Instead, you simply click
 the mouse  on the  title of  the program  you wish to run, or type its as-
 signed keyboard equivalent - press  W  to  run  your  word  processor, for
 example.   You can create as many menus as you like, and even set up menus
 to load other menus!  You can keep  track of  the time  you spend  in each
 program and  the names of any documents on which you worked, with the help
 of "ledger" files.  You can set up to 16  alarms (including  daily, weekly
 or monthly  alarms) that  will go  off in any program!  And, in its latest
 update (version 3.1), HotWire is  even  more  powerful  and  flexible than
 ever,  with  support  for  color-coded  menus, "global blocks" of programs
 and/or documents, special hooks for synergistic  communication with Multi-
 Desk, MaxiFile, and other CodeHead programs, and full STe and TT compatib-
 ility. 

     MaxiFile III is  a  file-handling  utility  par  excellence, providing
 features  and  flexibility  far  beyond  that  of  the  GEM desktop or its
 imitators.  Furthermore, MaxiFile III can  be installed  as a  desk acces-
 sory, available  from the  Desk dropdown or via the shareware Little Green
 Selector (included with the package).  This means you can  format and copy
 disks,  copy/move/delete/rename  files,  etc.,  from within most common ST
 programs. 

 Here are just a few of the incredible new capabilities of MaxiFile III:

 o the ability to search any drive (or combination of drives) at
   lightning speed for files or folders according to their
   time/date stamps, archive bit settings, or up to 16 simultaneous
   extensions - then instantly jump to that path and select all
   matching files!

 o a "dual display" mode that shows you both source and destination
   directories at once, in scrolling windows. 

 o a "safe deposit" feature that protects you from accidental file
   deletions in a fast, legal, transparent manner. 

 o TRUE MS-DOS floppy disk formatting.

 o a "graphic disk info" display that shows the space on all
   connected drives both numerically and with a bar chart,
   including cumulative totals for all selected drives. 

 o a blazingly fast text file viewing mode, with scrolling up and
   down via mouse or keyboard, tab settings, and fast string search
   abilities. 

 o keyboard equivalents for every operation, including selecting
   files and folders in directory windows!

     Owners of  the original  MaxiFile will  definitely want  to upgrade to
 MaxiFile III  - there  are so  many new features that an entire new manual
 had to be written to accompany it!

     Used individually, HotWire and MaxiFile can make working  with your ST
 easier, but  when used  together these programs become a complete, integr-
 ated replacement for every aspect of the GEM Desktop.  You can run progra-
 ms, install  documents, manage  files, set system configurations - do just
 about anything you can do with the GEM Desktop, all from simple, configur-
 able menus.  You may never need - or want - to use the GEM Desktop again!

     And memory  isn't a  problem either.   HotWire and MaxiFile III can be
 memory-resident or loaded and unloaded as  you need  them; they  work fine
 both  ways.    Furthermore,  both  products  are fully compatible with all
 release versions of Atari's TOS operating system.  From the smallest 520ST
 to mightiest TT030, HotWire and MaxiFile III work without fail. 

     CodeHead Software  products are  well known  and widely respected, but
 some more casual users may have the mistaken  impression that  these prog-
 rams are  for technical  types.   Not so!  CodeHead Software is for anyone
 who wants to make the most of his  Atari ST/STe/TT.   If  you aren't using
 CodeHead Software, you're wasting computing power!

 For more information, contact us at:

                             CodeHead Software
                              P.O. Box 74090
                           Los Angeles, CA 90004
                            Tel (213) 386-5735
                            Fax (213) 386-5789




       _____________________________________________________________

                         
                 
                     
                              

 > Hard Disks STR InfoFile       ***** ABCO PRICE CHANGES! *****
   =======================




                       ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! **

                      ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC.
              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
                 _________________________________________
                                        
                   HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
                 _________________________________________
                                        
   All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
                 are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
                                        
            *-ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE-*
                 (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!)
                   (all cables and connectors installed)
                                        
    * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *
      * ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED *
                  * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS *

                   WE PAY SHIPPING!!!  >BLUE LABEL UPS!<

               Deluxe 2 bay Cabinet w/65w auto-switching PS
            Model        Description      Autopark       Price
            ==================================================
            SGN4951      51Mb 28ms   3.5"    Y          479.00
            SGN1096      85Mb 24ms   5.25"   Y          549.00
            SGN2055     105mb 19ms   3.5"    Y          679.00
            SGN6277     120Mb 24ms   3.5"    Y          789.00
            SGN1296     168Mb 24ms   3.5"    Y         1019.00
            ==================================================
               ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY Super Cabinet w/250w PS
             PLEASE NOTE:  The above is partial listing only!

          CPU ACCELERATOR & MEMORY UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED

        >> ABCO is now taking orders for 1040 & MEGA STe Computers! <<
                Call for VERY special Introductory prices!


                      ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******

       * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCO "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE *

          - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE         - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A
          - ICD Utility Software        - 3' DMA Cable 
          - Fan & Clock                 - Multi-Unit Power Supply
                          (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.
                --->> SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 645.00__ <<---

                   WE PAY SHIPPING!!!  >BLUE LABEL UPS!<
                  COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN!
                    Cart and Utility Software Included!

                        EXTRA CARTS:      $  74.50
                        DRIVE MECH ONLY:  $ 349.95

                      ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******

   * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
                       SPECIALLY PRICED ** $1019.00 **
                         Includes TWO cartridges!

    * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
         - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -

             50mb SQG51   $ 819.00     85mb SQG96    $ 1019.00
                       
                 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
                      CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE

                   WE PAY SHIPPING!!!  >BLUE LABEL UPS!<

           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 COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR
           LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations)

                      *>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<*

       - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets -

            * SLM 804 Replacement Toner Cartridge Kits $42.95 *
                       * Toner Starter Kits $49.95 *
                       * Replacement Drums $183.95 *

               >> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED <<
                      ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED

                       -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *-
                         (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)

                   WE PAY SHIPPING!!!  >BLUE LABEL UPS!<
                 QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!
                 _________________________________________

                     DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!
                         please, call for details

                 Personal and Company Checks are accepted.

                        ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY!

           CALL: 1-800-562-4037   -=**=-    CALL: 1-904-783-3319
           Customer Orders ONLY               Customer Service
                                9am - 8pm EDT
                                Tues thru Sat

                ABCO is EXPANDING!!  CALL FOR INFORMATION!




       ____________________________________________________________




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




                         "WHAT DO YOU MEAN??.....
                  ATARI IS NOT A GAME MACHINE ANYMORE?...
                        THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS MAC!"

                                        ...Willy Rubberwrist




 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  STReport International Online Magazine
     Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide!
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 STReport           "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"            May 10, 1991
 16/32bit Magazine        copyright  1987-91                     No.7.19
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
 the editors, staff, STReport CPU/MAC/STR or  ST Report.   Permission to
 reprint articles  is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted.  Each reprint
 must include the name of the publication, date, issue #  and  the author's
 name.  The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in
 any way without prior  written permission.   The  entire contents,  at the
 time of  publication, are   believed to be reasonably accurate.  The edit-
 ors, contributors and/or staff are not responsible for either the use/mis-
 use of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

