@database "ar408.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #4.08 -- June 12, 1996"
===========================================================================
  June 12, 1996                @{" Turn the Page " link MENU}             Issue No. 4.08
===========================================================================
                                      ,a
                                    c4%&;
                                    1%%%b
                                     9%=~
                                     " 
           m;     mmmm;      nmm     mmmmm     .,pmq,.       m;
          j#6       ##6     j###     ###      ,#'~ ~`g,     j#6
          ##&;      ##&;    ####     ###     ,#f     `#     ##&;
         jP##6      ###6   jP###     ###    .##'      "    jP##6
         #'$#&;     #$#&;  #'###     ###    i##            #'$#&;
        jP l##6     #l##6 jP ###     ###    &##           jP l##6
        #'  $#&;    # $#&;#' ###     ###    &##           #'  $#&;
       j#mmmd##6    # l##6P  ###     ###    ?##     mmmw j#mmmd##6
       #'    $#&;   #  $##'  ###     ###     ##;     $#$ #'    $#&;
      jP     l##6   #  l#P   ###     ###     `#l    ,&#'jP     l##6
      #'      ###mm #   $' mm###mm mm###mm    `#q,.,p#' #'      ###mm   (R)
                                                "~^~"
                 &&&&q,                                  ,
                 ,P  `b                                  d'   tm
                 d'  ,P                                d&&&P
                ;P .,d' ,c&&q,  &&&&q,  ,c&&q,  q&,e&q ;P'
                d&&&P  ;P'  `&  d'  `b ;P'  `b  dP~ `P d'
               ;P'`&;  dB&&&&P ;P   ,P d'    P ;P     ;P
               d'  `&; &,   ,  d' .,d' &, .,d' d'     d' ,
              &&&   &&'`&&&P' ;B&&&P'  `&&&P' &&&     `&P'
                              d'
                             ;P
                            &&&

                 "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!"

                      Copyright 1996 FS Publications
                            All Rights Reserved
@endnode
@node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu"
@toc MAIN

Amiga Report 4.08 is sponsored in part by:

@{" ClickBOOM " link AD1}, authors of the upcoming @{" Capital Punishment " link AD1}, and by

@{" AmiTrix Development " link AD2}, publishers of the upcoming @{" AWeb-II " link AD2}.

===========================================================================
==                               Main Menu                               ==
===========================================================================

    @{"  Editorial and Opinion   " link OPINION}             @{"    Featured Articles    " link FEATURE}

    @{"         Reviews          " link  REVIEW}             @{"  News & Press Releases  " link NEWS}

    @{"      Aminet Charts       " link     FTP}             @{"       Reader Mail       " link MAIL}

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

    @{"    About AMIGA REPORT    " link ABOUT}             @{"    Dealer Directory     " link DEALER}
 Contact Information and Copyrights     Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers

    @{"     Where to Get AR      " link WHERE}             @{"     Advertisements      " link COMMERCIAL}
 Mailing List &  Distribution Sites     Online Services, Dealers, Ordering
               ______________________________________________
         //   |                                              |       //
========//====|  Amiga Report International Online Magazine  |======//=====
==   \\//     |  Issue No. 4.08               June 12, 1996  |   \\//    ==
==============|  "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!"  |=============
              |______________________________________________|
@endnode
@node JASON "Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                                  EDITOR
===========================================================================

                               Jason Compton
                               =============
             Internet                                  Address
             --------                                  -------
     jcompton@shell.portal.com                1203 Alexander Ave
     jcompton@xnet.com                        Streamwood, IL 60107-3003
                                              USA

               Fax                                      Phone
               ---                                      -----
           847-741-0689                             847-733-0248
@endnode
@node KATIE "Assistant Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
==                           ASSISTANT EDITOR                            ==
===========================================================================

                             Katherine Nelson
                             ================

                                 Internet
                                 --------
                            Kati@cup.portal.com
@endnode
@node KEN "Games Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
==                             GAMES EDITOR                              ==
===========================================================================

                               Ken Anderson
                               ============

               Internet                             Address
               --------                             -------
             kend@dhp.com                      44 Scotland Drive
         ka@protec.demon.co.uk                 Dunfermline
                                               Fife KY12 7TD
                                               Scotland
@endnode
@node WILLIAM "Contributing Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                            CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
===========================================================================

                               William Near
                               ============

                                 Internet
                                 --------
                              wnear@epix.net
@endnode
@node ADDISON "Contributing Editor"
@toc STAFF

===========================================================================
                            CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
===========================================================================

                              Addison Laurent
                              ===============

                                 Internet
                                 --------
                       addison@jobe.shell.portal.com
@endnode
@node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk"
@toc OPINION

===========================================================================
    compt.sys.editor.desk                          By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}
===========================================================================

Sorry, everyone.

Amiga Report is way behind release schedule and there's basically nobody
but me to blame.  I apologize.  There's been an awful lot to do in my life,
both Amiga related and personal.

On top of all of that, the hard drives in my 3000 were damaged beyond
repair or recovery, so it's been a struggle putting the pieces back
together and getting a machine up and running for my personal use, as well
as keeping me in touch with everything that's going on out there.

So, again, my apologies for this issue being a good two weeks late.  A lot
has happened, what with Phase5 and PIOS looking to pursue Amiga-ish agendas
for personal computing (to varying degrees, of course).

The information I'm getting from VIScorp indicates that the term of the
letter of understanding between VIScorp and Escom for the sale of Amiga
Technologies runs to the end of July--so the deal will have to be made by
then.  Bill Buck of VIScorp is in Germany now continuing negotiations.

Enjoy AR 4.08--late, but still fresh.

Jason

@endnode
@node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                            Commercial Products
===========================================================================

@{"      Capital Punishment       " link AD1}  The upcoming action game from ClickBOOM

@{"            AWeb-II            " link AD2}  The WWW Browser, coming from AmiTrix

@{"        Editor's Choice        " link EDITORCHOICE}  Jason's picks

@{"   Portal Information Systems  " link PORTAL}  A great place for Amiga users.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode

@node AD1 "Capital Punishment Is Coming..."
@toc MAIN





                THEY say: "Amiga games suck"
                THEY say: "Developers are gone"
                THEY say: "No more good games"
                THEY say: "Amiga is dead"






                ...well, WE say:



                              F*@% THEM !!! 
                              -------------




          We are clickBOOM - the angriest team in cyberspace



          We have developed an amazing combat epic for Amiga 
                        called Capital Punishment



                      It is what players asked for:

                                 playable
                                  fluid
                                   fast
                                realistic...



                         And what they hoped for:

                                 violent
                                  wild
                                engrossing
                           adrenaline-pumping...



               And it's coming soon to blow your Amiga away!



      You'll engage in battle against warriors, ninjas, aliens, and 
   an assortment of other fearsome opponents in some of the goriest 
   fighting scenes ever seen in a video game.



Amiga Computing - "Capital Punishment could take fighting games 
                   into the next millennium"

Amiga Format    - "Capital Punishment has been proclaimed as 
                   the ultimate video game".

Amiga Report    - "Capital Punishment is a very smooth and engrossing game"

CU Amiga        - "Frame rate is higher than any fighting game I've seen"




Visit "clickBOOM" web page for more information; chance to win one of 
5 free Capital Punishment games; and to download playable beta demos:

                 http://www.io.org/~clkboom/amiga/

Internet e-mail: clkboom@io.org






                                             beware...Punishment is coming

@endnode

@node AD2 "AmiTrix Development, Publishers of AWeb-II"
@toc COMMERCIAL

===========================================================================
AmiTrix Development,  5312 - 47 Street, Beaumont, Alberta,  T4X 1H9  Canada
Phone/Fax:1+403-929-8459  Email:sales@amitrix.com  www.networkx.com/amitrix
===========================================================================

                    Direct Mail Order Price List
                    ============================
             (Prices subject to change without notice.)

Product Description                                       CAN $        US $
-------------------                                     -------     -------

AWeb-II (AWeb2.0/HTML-Heaven2.0 WWW Software)           $ 55.00     $ 45.00

SCSI-TV with 2.5" Drive Adapter                         $200.00     $160.00
SCSI-TV570 with 2.5" Drive Adapter                      $210.00     $170.00

Amiga-Link/Envoy Starter Kit (2-units)                  $350.00     $275.00
- (also available as expansion kit with extra cable)
Amiga-Link/Envoy Expander Kit (1-unit)                  $210.00     $165.00
Amiga-Link Expansion Kit (1-unit)                       $155.00     $123.00

Amiga-Link Accecories:
   2-way Floppy Port Splitter                           $ 39.00     $ 31.00
   RG58 cable - 1m(3.5ft.)                              $ 10.00     $  8.00
   RG58 cable - 5m(16.5ft.)                             $ 13.00     $ 10.50
   RG58 cable - 10m(33ft.)                              $ 17.50     $ 14.00
   - (custom lengths available on request)
   Extra BNC-T connectors                               $  4.50     $  3.50

The P-Net Box, a ParNet Adapter                         $ 15.00     $ 12.00

AM33C93A-16PC SCSI controller chip                      $ 26.00     $ 20.00
Active SCSI Terminator - C50 male                       $ 29.75     $ 23.50
Passive SCSI Terminator - C50 male/female               $ 12.25     $  9.75
External SCSI Drive Box
- (Mini-Tower e/w: C50/Internal bus/C50 pass-thru)      $145.00     $115.00
DIY Cable Kit (Internal) for Mini-T Ext. SCSI Box       $ 30.00     $ 23.50

Hard Drives (Quantum, Micropolis)                       $  Call     $  Call
CD-ROM Drives (Sony, NEC)                               $  Call     $  Call

Anti-Static Mat (soft-20x24) & Wriststrap               $ 34.00     $ 28.00
Anti-Static Wriststrap                                  $  8.00     $  6.50

DB23 solder-type connector
- male, female, or chrome hood - each                   $  1.65     $  1.25

Repair Services:
----------------
- A1200/4000 CIA replacements, General repairs          $  Call     $  Call
- SMD equipment fixed charge                            $ 35.00     $ 28.00
- Labour rate per hour                                  $ 35.00     $ 28.00

Shipping Costs: (most large boxed items)
---------------
First Class Mail: within Canada                         $ 10.00
                   within USA                                       $ 10.00
                  International                         $ 15.00     $ 12.00

Shipping: (for small bubble-packet items)               $  5.00     $  5.00

Orders should include a Bank Draft/Money Order or Postal MO, payable to 
AmiTrix Development in CAN or US dollars.  COD orders inside Canada only.
Shipping costs may vary for quantity orders/alternative method of shipment.
Canadian customers add 7% GST to all orders.

http://www.networkx.com/amitrix/

@endnode

@node MAIL "Reader Mail"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                               Reader Mail
===========================================================================

Date: Sat, 1 Jun 1996 12:24:02 -0300 (ADT)
From: John McKenzie <davros@ra.isisnet.com>
To: Jason Compton <jcompton@xnet.com>
Subject: Re: Amiga Report 4.07

 Jason, hi.

 Firstly, I hear that you were hired by Viscorp. Congradulations.


 Anyway, after all this time I have finally been recieving AR and enjoying
it.  Thanks.  My only problem is sometimes the Uuendcoding doesn't like
what you sent me, and I have to go to the homepage.  But it is still a good
read.

 I wanted to comment on some things from some issues a few months ago.

 I for one thought it was great that you mention the demise of Atari.  It
is alot more relevant than you think.  Atari's influence over both video
games and computers in general is almost inmeasurable, everyone should be
morning its passing.  The video Games is obvious.  The computer industry
less so but very signifigant.  Steve Jobs and Steve Wozinck (sp) were
amonest its first employees and this is how they paid for intial research
into their work.  Dozens of basic concepts for connecting computers to
monitors were pionered by them.  (They only enforeced them when the
Tramials were desperate for money but they own the patents on things like
scrolling, grey pixels, having sound and image at the same time.)

 Most improtantly to Amiga Report, Atari gave money to start up a company
that made Atari 2600 products then made their own computers.  It was called
Amiga.  Amiga actually made a few Atari 2600 games and other items near the
end of the 2600's lifespan.  Then they did that computer thing.

Another topic;

 You mentioned that Amiga made a deal with Istar for Internet access in
Canada.  This is very bad and I am trying to warn everyone for has promoted
it.

 Istar is the merger of a company called NSTN and some small Westren
Canadian companies.  NSTN was started when the government of Nova Scotia
thought it best to amalgamate and privatize the internet administration for
the Unviersities across the provience.  They would be allowed to sell
private accounts if they could do it low key and low profile allowing the
government to turn its head the other way.  (I went to a University that
used them and they are a 15 minute drive from my house.)

 NSTN never allowed Amiga users on-line until a few years ago when they
allowed anyone on-line, but if it wasn't an IBM you had to custome write a
script yourself.  I don't believe they any longer allow VT100 connections.
If you call them and ask for help they will ask you if you have the
software they give out to customers and if you don't they will say "Thank
you for using NSTN/Istar" and hang up.

 Speaking of which the software they SELL you, is sharware with a custome
script.  They do not pass a cent on to the authors.  This incidently is
illegal in Canada.

 Amiga Users who buy the "Surfer Pack" and actually use an account with
Istar are giving money to a company that broke its mandate for its
exsistance, illegally profits off of shraware which isn't theres, and
specificly goes out of its way to promote the IBM platform and discourage
the use of any others.

(As a little amusing note, Main headquaters are located on the corner of
two streets called Brownlow Avenue and Commodore Avenue. :-))

 As a modemite, student and member of the local users group I have lived
with these people in our midsts for years. This deal is as usefull for the
Amiga as AT setting up a games division and producing games soley for the
Playstation or Saturn game consoles is.

 Thanks for reading.

 Again, congradulations on your new job.

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

From: Aleksandar Puskas <ipuskas@unsim.im.ns.ac.yu>
To: jcompton@xnet.com
Subject: Hi!

First I'd like to say hello and thanks to Amiga Report for all information
you gave to the Amiga community.  During sanctions, AR was only information
source in Yugoslavia.

All I have to say is KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, and LONG LIVE AMIGA.

Reason I wrote this message is my little problem.  I sent this to AR
because I really don't have anyone here to ask, and Internet is not
accessible to everyone in Yugoslavia.  So I can't go to some IRC conference
or Aminet site and ask.  Only possible comunication is via e-mail (or usual
mail, or if you come in-person to tell what you want <--fastest :P ).

I have a LITTLE problem with my A4000.
THE PrObLeM is overheating.

When i bought my A4000 in January 1995 it worked fine, BUT when summer came
it started to slow down.  First I wondered what happened, and what is
wrong.  Later I find out that CPU is overheating.  I opened the cover and
pointed large fan into CPU.  And 'solved' the problem.  That was OK, summer
finished, came fall, then winter and my A4000 worked well.  Somewhere in
between I bought CPU cooler.  But the same problem showed again few weeks
ago.  Again the same stuff, but CPU is COLD - WHAT NOW???

When 'THIS' happens my Amiga becomes SLOOOOOOOOOW (INCREDIBLY SLOW) and
memtransfer falls below 1.5 MB/s (normal is ~4.3MB/s).  After a while it
gets stoned and only a shutdown and cooling helps.

After a closer examination of Amiga's 'hot' parts I found out that some
chips on the processor board are too hot to touch.

They are marked:
U400 (on chip=391409-01 (I think, this one is hard to read)),
U203 (391490-01), U213 (391467-01), U200 (??), U201 (??).

Actually this is the part of processor board that is THE hotest.  These
chips are placed on processor board on the opposite side of CPU.  FAST
memory SIMMs and CPU are hot too, but only when Amiga is stoned when I cool
down processor board they cool DOwn too (I don't cool them).

Also Zorro part of daughterboard is hottish to touch.

I noticed that Amiga slows down when playing games like F1GP or Breathless,
or doing something like OPTIMISE from QBTools.  BUT ONLY WHEN AIR
TEMPERATURE IS HIGHER THEN 25 C.

My Amiga don't slow down when running WITHOUT FAST RAM.

Processor board is ver3.0 and motherboard is version B (I forgot to mention
thiz :)).  Everything else is Commodore original A4000/040 pack.

Now I have few questions: Is my motherboard DEAD?, Is my processor board
dead?, WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY #@>?#!?#@ Amiga??.

If you have ANY ideas what could help me (except large fan - I figured out
that already) PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!
PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  Send me a
note

Milan Belic
Yugoslavia
P.S. Sorry for BAD English.

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

From: ComputerTraining.AMNY@ny.ubs.com
Date: Fri May 24 09:58:53 1996

Hey, Jason, I just read your Amiga Report editorial about "only one printed
Amiga publication".  [in North America]

CROSSINGS has been published monthly for eight years.  It covers issues
related to PC and Mac emulation on the Amiga.

After the next issue, I'm taking a break until fall.  It will be my first
vacation from CROSSINGS in eight years.  It will give me a chance to build
up the mailing list, give VIScorp a chance to get past the current lull,
and generally give me a vacation.

    - Yes, this was a really stupid oversight on my part.  My apologies.
@endnode
@node OPINION1 "Optimism in the Age of Amiga"
@toc OPINION

===========================================================================
                       Optimism in the Age of Amiga
  Kermit Woodall                                    Kermit@cup.portal.com
===========================================================================

Too darned often these days I get asked variations of the following
question, 'Why are you still so positive on the Amiga?' My smart-aleck
answer, that I've never said until now, is another question, 'Why the HELL
shouldn't I be positive?!'

Ask yourself this question.  For a moment don't focus endlessly on the
negatives dreamed up by people who have nothing better to do or have left
the Amiga for the world of high priced software on Macs and PCs.  After
all, there are three kinds of people you should never listen to;
ex-smokers, dieters, and ex-Amigans.  They're all on a mission to prove
that what they do now is proven right by the evils of what they did before.

You there in the 'Boing' tee-shirt!  Stop scratching yourself and THINK for
a second.  When Commodore went under did your Amiga flip over and begin
emitting clouds of black smoke?  Did the latest demos from Europe suddenly
require features of unreleased chipsets?  When Escom announced the sale of
Amiga Technologies to VIScorp did your software disks magically reformat
themselves into the PC format?  Did your hard drive suddenly allocate an
85mb partition with the note; 'Put Windoze-95 Here'? 

Nope.  Didn't happen did it?  I don't have to make a cross-country census
to check.  I KNOW.  Your Amiga is still doing the job you asked it to do
before, during and after all the supposed crises.

What did happen is that some people let some other people turn their heads
and they lost their cool.  Specifically, they AREN'T cool anymore.  Cool
Amiga users still use Amigas.  The Amiga didn't lose it's Cool.  Just a few
more people jumped ship when they found they needed to use a word processor
and a spreadsheet more than they needed to make cool graphics and
animations.

'Waitaminute,' cries out a tortured Amigan!  'LightWiget ported to the PC -
people do animations with it alla time now.  PCs are cool now, right?' If
this were so then we should have seen the end of the PC people and their
platform wars, but we haven't.  PCs got 3D software, sure they do, but who
gets to USE it there?  People whose companies do the type of work that
requires budgets and expense accounts.  These companies gotta be a bit
bigger because on the PC, guess what, the software COSTS are quite a bit
bigger.  Do they sell more software there?  If you'd heard what I've heard
and read what I've read, you'll see the answer is too often...(drum
roll)...no.

'But they have so much software, so many choices, and we're so limited now
on the Amiga', cries out that tortured Amigan soul.  Sadly I see the
faithful are now fatally 're-educating' that soul.  A moment of silence
before we posthumously answer him.  Choices he said?  Sorry, no.  No ARexx
integration on the PC or Mac.  No real batch processing.  Pitifully few 2D
paint and effects programs.  Outside of 3D packages that pushed themselves
over there, the rest of the graphics software there can be primitive at
best.  Or even worse.  (cover the children's ears) Proprietary. 

You think cheap graphics and video solutions are appearing on the PC? 
Nope.  The Video Toaster and Flyer, Amiga products both, are still one of
the best bargains in the video industry!  After early promises by various
PC companies, the reality has shown up at shipping time for them.  Any
board similar to a Toaster, including yet-to-ship products that might offer
more features, cost upwards of FIVE TIMES the cost of a Toaster.  To start
with!  When Commodore fell, the PC industry stopped trying to compete with
Toaster and Amiga prices while still hoping to fool everyone into thinking
the revolution moved next door onto a PC.  It didn't!  Joe User in Anytown
USA can't afford a $2600 Pentium, plus $10,000 of video cards and assorted
hardware, plus another $5000 of new video software that can't integrate
(remember, no ARexx!) and can't batch process.  He can't afford the Mac
prices for this stuff either.  (Even if he does trust Apple to micro-manage
itself out of the mess it's gotten itself into.) Look gang, it's now many
years later and the Video Toaster STILL leads the desktop video revolution!

I talk with the big boys, the ones you read about in all the magazines,
who've 'left' the Amiga to animate on other machines.  Know what they use
to get everything done now?  Everything.  They use farms of expensive PCs
to render 3D animations.  Networks of SGIs running deca-thousand dollar
software packages to do 2D effects.  ...oh yeah, and they still keep their
Amigas around for all the basic batch processing tasks that they still
can't get done on all this new equipment that in some cases cost upwards of
a quarter-million to put in place.  What did they get out of all of this? 
Some increased speed in 3D animation rendering.  A lot of new bills to pay.
A lot of new specialized computer consultants to pay.  Oh yeah, and happy
people down at the local power company.  Magazines don't report on all
those facts.  Magazines are oriented towards 'What's New' not the 'What's
Here and Now'.

The Amiga's software is still top notch.  Honestly you can pick up a couple
of software packages for a few hundred bucks on the Amiga that will do
stuff that costs those tens of thousands to get on the SGI and just aren't
available on the PC.  Modesty prevents me from pointing out the company
that makes some of this software.  Really it does.  Anyways, the neat thing
about this is that good ole Joe User can do the same jobs as the big guys
and probably at half the cost.  If nothing else, he can do jobs for clients
who want the Spielberg look on an infomercial budget.  I've seen this sort
of work, and you know what?  You Amiga guys are pretty darned talented.

The Amiga also has it's users.  Some call it loyalty.  Some call it
fanaticism.  It's not that mild and it's not that wild either.  Mostly,
despite ourselves, it's our sense of community.  Example.  I walk into my
office the other day and in the building lobby there sits a guy waiting for
someone.  Turns out, it's me!  Now, when you're an Amiga software
developer, I've learned you expect to have local Amiga users drop by to see
how things work.  Turns out this 'local' Amiga user was Esa Haapaniemi.
From Finland.  He also brought doughnuts.  Very cool.  Very cool Amiga
user.  We had a great time.  (note: before you pack your bags and plan your
itinerary, I'll advise you of what Esa learned the hard, patient, way.  We
keep strange hours.  When you sell software around the world out of a set
of offices in Richmond, Virginia, you alter your hours to fit the rest of
the world.)

You think the Amiga's in a No-Win situation?  You're right, it is!  As in
'No Win-95'.  The Amiga has many strengths, and when it's not the software
sellers like my company, it's all in the OS.  That little mighty marvel of
marvelous microcoded ingenuity; AmigaDOS.  No bloated 16-bit prehistory.
No gratuitous river of driver software for this display or that display
included to make everyone happy.  Remember the laughable reports of
'Windoze for Microwaves'?  I'm serious.  Bill thought his coders could
shrink down Windoze to make a general purpose control paradigm for
household appliances.  I'll admit I sometimes can't puzzle out
'auto-defrost' but at least if I get it wrong my Microwave doesn't crash
with a Group Protection Fault and reboot my frozen dinner into my forehead.
VIScorp with their ED settop box have the right idea.  The Amiga - It's the
'No-Win' solution!

If you think the current situation with the Amiga is anything but great,
you're sanity-challenged.  VIScorp is shelling out 40 million samolians to
grab this technology.  Folks, they had licensed all the rights they needed
for their business-as-usual.  They're looking for the business that's
as-unusual now.  Escom rebuilt, in a wowzer of a fast time too, the Amiga
and Amiga Technologies into a viable company.  Now Amiga Tech.  and VIScorp
seem very pleased with all the Amiga 'clones'.  Want to know a secret.  I'm
very pleased too.  Clones made the PC the force it is today.  If IBM hadn't
screwed up and left the door open for the PC technology to slip out, they
would've killed the PC back in the 1980's.  Did you realize there are at
least, today, FIVE companies creating Amiga 'clones'?  Macrosystems/DraCo
(they hate to admit it, but it's a pretty decent Amiga clone), Eagle
Computers GmbH, PIOS, phase5, and Quikpak.  Clones mean competition. 
Competition means prices fall.  Falling prices mean sales.  Sales mean more
competition.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Check what's happening already with
the pricing on the Eagle 4000TE computers if you don't think this will
happen!  PIOS, phase5 and others are going to be vying to bring you the
next generation of PowerPC based Amiga hardware.  This is closer than you
think and it has the possibility of being cheaper than you think as well. 
It's all silicon and the prices of sand aren't rising like they used to!

The Amiga's got cool users, great magazines (like Amiga Report), cutting
edge software, the best operating system and some aggressively interesting
hardware here - with more coming every time I turn around!

So why am I positive about the Amiga?  Why?  Because I'm still having FUN!


Kermit Woodall
Nova Design, Inc.
1910 Byrd Avenue, Suite 214
Richmond, VA 23230  USA
http://www.novadesign.com
@endnode
@node OPINION2 "Amiga: The Respected Alternative"
@toc OPINION

===========================================================================
                     Amiga: The Respected Alternative
  Sergei Nester                             autech.research@tassie.net.au
===========================================================================

How to get the AMIGA back as a respected alternative choice to the high
volume ubiquitous INTEL/MAC boxes.

There are many different reasons for buying a Macintosh or IBM system,
which may be summed up by the following broad categories Software, Numbers,
Cost, Market Perception and proliferation of 3rd party add ons. 

Software is fairly well self explanatory with industry standards existing
in such titles as Word, Photoshop, 3D Studio, Lotus/Excel, Netscape, etc. 
But did you know that some of the IBM's most innovative software started
life on the AMIGA ?  Lightwave, SCALA, Truescape (used to be Caligari),
BARS and PIPES (bought by Microsoft), Art Department Professional (Now
forms the backbone of Elastic Reality's software suite) and Real 3D, to
name but a few. 

Large Numbers of these systems and numbers that are expected to sell, help
to keep a continued developmental critical mass occurring, allowing hype of
technology around the corner to continue driving the industry, meaning
people are likely to buy the technology today, knowing their system will be
upgradeable in the future (it doesn't always happen, but it happens more
often then not).  With a small base of users and potential users (a lá
AMIGA), the public are more likely to wait and see the next model before
making a decision, quite often that decision is to wait and see what the
model after the next model will be like, when they get tired of waiting
then they will go out and choose the best value for money. 

Cost is an all important criterion these days, now that the price resiliant
computer hobbyist is but a small percentage of total computer users.  Now
that computers are standard fixtures for the home or office they have
become just computers with very little definition between brands and very
little understanding of the actual features of each system.  Very rarely,
these days, do people say "I'm saving up to buy an IBM PC 386 DX (Buyers
always stressed the DX) with 8 MEGABYTES (Huge amounts of RAM at the time)
a 100 Megabyte Hard disk, etc, etc.  These days the common statement is
"We've decided to get a computer...We'll just look around to find the best
deal".  A lot of the gee whiz excitement has disappeared (except amongst
technophilic dinosaurs such as myself). 

When it comes to the actual buying stage, why spend money on either a brand
you have never heard of or on a brand you thought had ceased to exist?  And
even when it was around it was "...just a games machine".  When in an
argument with a MAC/INTEL owner, and they pull out this throwaway line,
rebut this statement by telling your heckling adversary that the games
industry happens to be driving the IBM juggernaut.  Advertising is one way
MACS/INTELS stay in the public's consciousness, the other way, and this is
the most effective reason, is the incorporation of these systems into our
everyday life and vocabulary.  "Who hasn't heard of MICROSOFT?  put up your
hands...Now please all those who have had lobotomies within the last ten
years please put up your hands, ah...I see".

3RD party add ons and the sheer number of 3RD party peripheral producers
means there is a card to this and a card to do that.  There is now a card
that can let you tune into the radio...the only problem is it costs about a
hundred times more than the old faithful tranny you can buy from
Tandy...But, the point is such a card exists !  It also means that the more
useful addons (aimed at the majority of users) are produced in large
numbers by several competing companies, allowing the price vs performance
ratio to be both reduced (price) and increased (performance).   It also
means that cutting edge technology is more likely to be incorporated into
mainstream technology.

So where does that leave the AMIGA and any other technological fringe
dweller (Be, NEXT, etc.)?   well quite frankly it leaves them on the
fringe.  Sure each of these systems is having success in some niche areas,
but an entire computer platform cannot exist in a niche forever, for
example the AMIGA created the MULTIMEDIA, TV GRAPHICS and GAMES niches but
has seen domination in these areas reduced dramatically, and in some cases
has seen its membership revoked from the very clubs it created. 

There are still some great aspects about AMIGA.  Most notably is the fierce
dedication to the platform.  This is perhaps because of the fascinating
sense of history associated with the inception and conception of t is
system.  I wont explain the history as it is a great story in itself.  
Having a sense of history binds people together and forms a reason to fight
for what you believe in.   Another great feature is the feeling that your
computer is an individual with character all of it's own.  How many other
computers have silicon chips with names such as LISA, FAT AGNUS, DENISE and
GARY?.  How many computers get GURU MEDITATION errors when they inevitably
crash?  So perhaps being a fringe dweller does have its advantages.  So how
can we remain a fringe dweller but also enter the mainstream?  (this sounds
like a contradiction in terms but it is achievable).

Like this....

By looking at the past to understand why the AMIGA was successful in the
first place.  By looking forward at where the computer industry is heading.
By looking at how the industry is moving forward and finally by looking at
what people want today.

Why was the AMIGA successful from 1985 up until 1992?

Innovation is the key word here, but also innovation that was affordable. 
In a period when INTEL machines were strutting their CGA/EGA feathers and
MACINTOSHES suddenly realised apples were red, and not black and blue after
all.  Along came a computer system that contained a realistic (at the time)
graphics system (With a true colour system of 4096 colours on screen at
once).  Four voice STEREO sound.  TRUE MULTITASKING, Plug'n'Play and a
decent processor, all of this combined into a package that would remain
unbeaten until the 386/VGA era and at a price that was ridiculously low
compared to other systems at the time.  In 1992 the AGA AMIGAs arrived to
counter the INTEL attack, unfortunately the only area where the AMIGA was
still ahead of the game was the Multitasking operating system and
Plug'n'Play.  Strangely these features are still unmatched today. 

Where is the Computer industry heading?

Who knows??..No one can say for sure, and it is this uncertainty that can
make or break a hardware manufacturer.  There are however some fairly
obvious trends.  Remote connections, such as internet and leased line
operations.  Windows NT (Microsoft have stated that after 1997 Windows '95
will be dead and they will be pushing NT).  POWER PC/INTEL.   Standard
equipment included with a computer will be higher performance.  Higher
quality software given away with each system.  Standardising of high
performance expansion, graphics and sound subsystems.   Subtle
Incorporation of computer systems into the lounge room (designer cases).
Software will increasingly become bloatware (The same program except with
more useless features than the previous version).  Realtime 3D will become
commonplace.

There are some very interesting technologies coming through the super
pipeline.  Recent developments in 3D/Holographic RAM, Super fast
graphic/sound Subsystems (TriMedia, S3, etc.) and new monitor technology
that moves past the limitation of RGB displays. 

How it is getting there?

Because of the critical mass factor, storage, memory and processing power
has become increasingly cheap, therefore the trend is to either keep
systems at the same price but add substantially more computing power or by
drastically reducing the price of base models.  As newer applications and
more bloatware is released, the hardware requirements are increased.  The
time difference between updates to the entry level system is getting
shorter and shorter.  But this could cause a consumer backlash but it would
only be a small minority.

What do people want today?

They want the best priced entry level system (Or quite often one or two
models up from the entry level).  Very rarely will you find someone buying
a sub-entry level system (unless they have a specific requirement, no
money, or they are able to upgrade the systems cheaply). 

So from all this a successful system could be unleashed.  The ideal would
machine maintain a fine line between performance, innovation and price,
allow mainstream software to run and would have the potential to be
upgraded for many generations of computing.

It is easy to place a wish list of technical requirements into a box and
proclaim fervently that every man and his dog will want to buy one.  Harder
is producing a sustainable long term development strategy.  A well
documented mistake that the old Commodore made was to suspend development
of cutting edge technology in favour of saturation of the existing systems.
Other platforms manufacturers quite quickly overtook and understood that
the computer market is not stagnant.

The 8 Point Plan

1.  The first step to producing a successful new generation AMIGA and keep
it successful is to listen to the devoted hordes of AMIGAphiles, for every
one hundred ridiculous or unviable requests there is guaranteed to be some
that will keep appearing up on everyone's wish list.  This is not something
to be ignored, as it is these people who will be the greatest proponents of
the system.  Do not alienate a very large and dedicated band of people.
Equally important to listen to are the software producers and vertical
application developers (Such as my company).  We are the ones who will
produce applications that will encourage people to use and buy these
systems.   Remember the greatest form of advertising is to have people
using your systems, people who are likely to be in the media, people who
are respected and perhaps just a little bit "cool" or popular.  Think what
the AMIGA would be like if people such as Andy Warhol,William Gibson,
Arthur C.  Clarke, NEWTEK, IL&M (Star Trek Next Generation) and Amblin
(Seaquest DSV) did not use and be seen to be using this platform.  Finally
ensure you look at where the computer industry is heading as whole.

2.  The second step is to theoretically put together all these suggestions
in the form of a finished product, using readily available parts and cost
it out.

3.  Thirdly, examine cutting edge technologies and try to determine
development time, production costs, life of the technology and
expandability of the technology.  Then determine how they may replace and
also enhance the off the shelf components out of step two.  The key here is
to provide a system that is ahead of the competition when you release it
and to ensure you can maintain your lead, at least long enough to ensure
brand loyalty.

4.  Fourth, put together a team of radical thinkers, conventional thinkers,
problem solvers, hardware designers, concept designers, artistic designers,
program designers and industry stalwarts.  This will ensure the greatest
diversity of ideas, problems/solutions and eventually innovation.  Aim your
sights past the next generation, to ensure when your hardware is released
it is not out of date.

5.  Fifth release specifications well before the release of the actual
system, and ensure development systems are available well before the
release of the system. 

6.  Sixth, Standardise as much of the non performance architecture as
possible.   All performance dependent architecture should be standardised,
but with the ability to be upgraded with ease. 

7.  Seven, Maintain the individuality of the system without compromising
point six.

8.  Eight, Do not do any of this tentatively or half-heartedly, embrace a
pro-development philosophy.  Encourage people to get involved.  (The Escom
web is a great place to start to allow peole to offer feedback, ideas and
criticisms)

For value added resellers (such as ourselves) we require development
systems free of charge.  And as much technical support as possible.

An important consideration that must be taken into account is how to get
the other fifity percent of the world's population into computing.  Very
few companies attempt to aim hardware at females, there is still an
attitude of providing the most grunt and most gee whizz items into the
bigest box and aim it at males.  A leaf should be taken out of the
automotive industry, who have suddenly realised that women will buy a car
if the car is aimed at their desires and needs.

What should be in the system?

It is not so much the specifics of each item, but more the role each
feature must play in the overall package.

CPU- Compatible with Windows NT, Infinitely upgradeable, Decent entry level
performance, reliance on subsystems for everything but system management
processing power.  Ability for more processors to be added.  Cacheable

BUS- Compatibility with current standards, but also easily changeable in
the future.  Extra expansion slots should be easy to add.

MEMORY- Either used as memory available to the whole system, or available
to user definable sub-systems.  Each sub-system can allow addition of RAM,
where no RAM is present in the sub-system, it falls back to the system RAM.
Allows for different price/performance levels.  3D/Holographic should be
developed (Imagine 10 gigabytes of system RAM)

STORAGE- Whatever is standard at the time of release should be used,
(3D/Holographic RAM could be substituted for a traditional Hard disk).

REMOVABLE MEDIA- Syquest, ZIP Drive, High Density CD.

SOUND- An open ended sound system should be used, one that allows multiple
processors (DSP, Tri Medias, etc.) and RAM to be added depending on each
users requirements.  Perhaps development on a real time wave form mixing
processor would be advantageous.

VIDEO- Same as Sound sub system, but a definite look well beyond what is
standard in video today.  Simultaneous video output necessary.  As well
look at developments in monitor technology by Sony and Canon (12 primary
colour LED screens).   Alleviate the need for actual expansion cards to
keep expansion cheap.

CONNECTORS- Allow easy addition of extra ports such as SERIAL, PARALLEL,
VIDEO OUTPUT etc.  Have these addons made by AMIGA TECH and move away from
the card style and more into a plug in module.  Direct support for
capturing sound and video, connection to telephone/cable lines and VR will
be required as standard.

CASE- This is going to be more relevant in the coming years.  Accessibility
to add extras is going to be very important, especially as the systems
become more integrated in the lounge room.  Exterior design is going to
become more aesthetically pleasing.   Anyone for a walnut and burr case ?

The Operating System is the second concern.

The AMIGA is the only system that contains a three dimensional window
system.   The AMIGA can open new screens, each with its own windows, that
are completely independent of the screens behind them, this allows for a
much larger more efficient workspace.  This must be kept at all costs as it
is this one feature above all others that is truly unique.

Multitasking must be expanded upon, with an architecture as above an AMIGA
could become a multiuser computer.

Software drivers must be written for any card that can fit into the
Expansion Bus.

Areas that have been identified and have been sorely missing, are
Networking, Memory Management, Printing, RTG, RTS (Retargetable Sound) and
Internet connectability.

Although AMIGA OS feels elegant in operation, it does not look elegant and
great pains must be taken to make the OS look simple yet advanced.  Try to
interpret the desktop from a new angle, without losing confidence from
people used to the traditional Desktop/Workbench look and feel.  Multi OS.
To run Windows NT or APPLE SYSTEM 7.5 is essential, but to run NT means the
loss of individuality, and the small details that make the AMIGA OS so
terrific to use.  So perhaps NT could run alongside AMIGA OS (Very resource
hungry).  They could be run separately one at a time (Impractical for file
transfers).  A combination of these two.  Or an extension to the NT OS
could be developed, that enhances NT.  Whichever way is preferable, it must
allow the greatest flexibility for the future.

Intelligent but strict guidelines must be adhered to by developers, we do
not want problems of software developers, producing "system Illegal"
software.  Encouragement to use retargetable code is a must.  Self deleting
software is becoming a standard requirement..(if you have seen my LIBS:
Directory you will understand the logic of this).  An interesting idea
pioneered by ACORN was that of antialiased text, which unfortunately never
succeeded, but could be reintroduced to work on outline font technology,
giving the crispest text display of any computer system.  And allowing
cleaner representations of text on LCD screens and smaller screens.  (it
would be really nice in a word processor or DTP).

Now that all the discussion is out of the way how to implement it?

Stage one:

   Already completed- Reintroduction of AMIGAs back into the market place.


Stage two:

   Already Completed- Alliance with strategic partners (SCALA, NEWTEK,
MOTOROLA).   Licensing of OS and hardware.  Sure up software developers,
especially ones that are PC/MAC only.

Stage three:

   Begin the 8 point plan as set out above.

Stage four:

   Implement stepping stone OS

Stage five:

   Implement new Hardware.  Phase out marketing of old hardware, but keep
production going as long as there is demand (i.e.  Vertical markets,
Set-Top boxes etc.)

Stage six:  Implement new OS.

Stage seven:   Keep returning to Stage three.


An Example of base level system could be.  This is only an example nothing
more

   Single 603 Power PC Chip.
   2 PCI Slots.
   Single Graphics Processor 1 eg RAM (800x600 64k colours)
   Single Sound Processor    1 Meg RAM (18 Voice Stereo at 16 bit)
   1 Parallel + 1 Serial port
   8 Meg System RAM
   AMIGA OS only
   1 SVGA, 1 COMPOSITE Video Output
   1 DVD CD Rom Drive
   1 ZIP Drive.
   1 Gigabyte Hard Disk.
   15 inch SVGA Monitor

   Price $1795 US

Add ons example.

   Extra 603 upgrade module from:    $145ea
   604 Upgrade Module from:          $295ea
   Extra DSP for sound:              $95ea
   Extra Glint/S3 graphics chip      $145ea
   Extra Serial/Parallel/SCSI module:$29 ea
   Larger case:White 6 slot          $150
   Larger case:Designer 6 slot from  $200

An example of a high end system:

   Dual 604 power PC chips + 2 Meg Cache
   4 PCI 2 Zorro IV slots
   Dual Graphics processors 6 Meg VRAM (1600x1024 24 bit)
   Dual Sound Processors 2 Meg VRAM (36 voice at 24 bit, 3D sound)
   2 parallel, 3 serial connectors
   64 Meg System RAM
   AMIGA OS+NT extensions
   Dual SVGA, 1 Composite, 1 SVHS connectors
   Video, Sound input connectors.
   1 High Density ZIP Drive
   1 DVD CD ROM
   4 Gigabyte Hard Disk
   17 inch SVGA Monitor

   Price $9950 US

Wish list stuff.

There are many areas not covered here such as how do you get a wish list
system down to a price that the general public can afford?  Who do you
approach who would be a dedicated proponent of this system?  Should it be
taken carefully and slowly and carefully or should all the resources be
utilised and get it done as fast as possible?  Who will buy it?   Can we
make any money out of it?

Stage one and two are completed, it is now time to start the 8 point plan,
and put together a dynamic, dedicated, innovative team.  And when the
desire and enthusiasm start flowing, then it will become infectious.

Please reply to this however you feel about it, some discussion from ESCOM
would be appreciated.

Sergei Nester.

Project Director
Autech Research

SNESTER
autech.research@Tassie.net.au

Sergei Nester
C/O Autech Research
P.O. Box 764
Launceston
Tasmania
Australia, 7250  

Ph +61 018 123344
Fax +61 03 342481
@endnode

Subject: Forthcoming Amigas: Open letter from France

This is an open letter to whoever plans to build new Amigas.

As for now the situation is totally unclear and seems more like a Dallas
episode than everything else.

As of Today, we know that AT is ready to build PPC Amigas, Phase5 is
building its own prototype, MacroSystems is known to think hard about
it, and Pios will build PPC Amigas.

This should be what all Amiga owner wanted, as everybody seems to like PPC
Amiga.  Major problem however is that those companies will build also new
operating system for their amiga.  Their amiga, and not for the other
companies' PPC Amigas.

I'm speaking as for now for the largest part of the French Amiga
Community,both Net users, BBS users and friends.  Chances are that all
Amiga users althrough the world feel the same way as we do.

What we want is a SINGLE operating system.  We don't want to buy in a near
future a PPC Amiga from Viscorp and find out that it is not compatible on
the software level with Phase5's Amiga, which in turn is not compatible
with PIOS's Amiga.

What we want is some sort of cooperation between those companies, as little
as possible if they want it, but cooperation anyway, for both software and
hardware.  We want a portable operating system, which can run on either
systems and we want add-ons which will work on either systems.

Perhaps this letter has no reason to exist, perhaps there's already strong
cooperation between companies, but rumors, lack of information, and even
companies official talks, tend to proove this kind of letter is necessary.

Feel free to proove us we're wrong.

Co-signed:

Users, IRC, BBS, Usenet fr.comp.sys.amiga, RTC:

Philippe Brand,Jean Luc Sorrel,Samuel Devulder,Stephane Haytaian,Frank
Prevot Laurent Giroud,Laurent Caillat-Vallet,Vincent Oneto,Sylvain
Rougier,Yann Serra Yann Moreaux,Philippe Thomas,Tardif Hugues,Laurent
Rochetta,Thomas Thery Franck Chevalier,Guillaume Bozon,Yohann Auriau,Thomas
Cuzin Rambaut Thomas Mangin,Sebastien Provost,Sven Luther,Laurent
Delayen,Jerome Zago Alban Brument,Franck Aniere,Gwenael
Tranvouez,Yann-Erick Proy Alexandre Gevers,Nikita De Heering,Christopher
Potter,Corinne Villemin-Gacon Jean-Alexis Montignies,Pierre Cadeot,Michael
Bruyere,Rolf Diensten Patrice Pappalardo,Frederic Poels,Francois
Billard,Yannick Perret Nicolas Maillet,Nicolas Pomarede,Mathieu
Gardere,Gilles Masson Jean-Philippe Metz,Jerome Jantzen,Francis
Mouthaud,Sebastien Greau Arnaud Dury,Christelle Gabin,Olivier Biffaud,Yves
Libercier,David Presle Olivier Fabre,Emmanuel Barriera,Georges
Merlino,Jean-Francois Pik Sebasien Godbille,Lionel Menou,Laurent
Thouy,Patrice Cornillon Christophe Laino,Eric Menou,Guillaume
Proux,Frederic Mossmann,Jerome Lovy Jerome Chesnot,Nicolas Gelenne,Benoit
Planquelle,Alexandre Granvaud Michel Franquenk,Laurent Angeli,Loic Le
Texier,Claude Dehais,Vincent Ardiet Frederic Helly,Franck Gimond,Thierry
Martinez,Yohann Courtois,Emmanuel Letondor Sylvain Martinez,Hakim
Ramdane,David Kaminski,Yvan Le Texier,Hadrien Nilsson Yan Pujante,Laurent
Peron, Frederic Planche Etienne Schneider,Jean-Christophe Pottier,Frederic
Botton Stephane Gaubert,Regis Rampnoux,Ludovic Robinot,Olivier Lahaye,Frank
Geider Alexandre Del Bigio,Frederic Leconte,Stelian Pop,Jerome Souquieres
Regis Levie,Rodrigo Reyes,Philippe Lespinasse,Georges Goncalves,Eric
Levesque, Florent Monteilhet,Christophe Labouisse,Stephane
Legrand,Jean-Marc Xiume Nicolas Pernoud,Stephane Desneux,Philippe
Bastiani,Florent Brun,Cedric Souchon Philippe Fabry,Luc Gibert,Remi
Perrot,Michel Julien,Fabrice Sabatier Gilbert Helbecque,Alain
Chofardet,Denis Bernard,Christian Herblot Stephane Bunel,Jean-Claude
Dang,Simon Gris,Laurent Desarmes,Alain Petit Otmar Bender,David
Molinier,Philippe Carpinelli,Dominique Douteaux,Michel Donat Olivier
Brosse,Pascal Roch,Christophe Le Roch,Gael Martinez,Ludovic Brevilet
Emmanuel Vacher,Arnaud Meurgues,Patrice Orio,Eric Totel,Jean-Yves Catella
David Dudziak,Denis Ribayrol,Olivier Aubert,Olivier Jeannet,Patrick Castel
Gilles Morain,Emmanuel Doguet,Thibault Carrier,Aymeric Vague,Cyrille
Thieullet Xavier Billault,Laurent Jean-Rigaud,Nicolas Dehaine,Christophe
Lize Christophe Herubel,Jean-Pierre Riviere,Frederic Dalesme,Paul Redondo
Kersten Emmrich,Fabrice Hulen,Marc Ferrari,Jacques Pereira Jean Francois
Bouderlique,Guillaume Laurent,Wilfried Dupeyroux,Loic Devaux Jean-Bernard
Corazzi,Jerome Fleury,Denis Gounelle,Eric Gerard,Pascal Belaubre Eric
Giguere,Olivier Collard,Jean-Philippe Gadenne,Stephane Anquetil P
Lefrancois,Denis Galiana,Vincent Morenas,Laurent Gely,Guillaume Girard Eric
Delord,Herve Sonneville,Philippe Bastiani,Georges Segel,Philippe Rousseaux
Francois Lemarchand,Laurent Desarmes,Regis Levie,Pierre Delisle Fabrice
Hulen,Jean-Luc Manchon,Bruno Rohee,Daniel Mercier,Frank Atikossi,....  and
a few thousands more, all members of french amiga community.

French Companies/Newspapers/User Associations:

Ailpe Informatique, Anews, Dream, Gelain, Amie, Corvette Production
Frontieres Informatique, Ramses Diffusion

@endnode


Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group
18813 Harlan Dr.
Maple Hts., Ohio 44137-2239


VIScorp
111 North Canal Street, Suite 933
Chicago, IL 60606

Subject: An Open letter to all Amiga Enthusiasts.

 To the Managers and Amigans at VIScorp, and Amiga User Every where,

   We the members of The Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group, are interested
in the plans of VIScorp for the Amiga.  We have pledged support to the
Amiga and have expressed that support by in vesting money and time in our
machines.  We still find the Amiga our choice of computer and look forward
to the next generation of Amiga computers.  The PowerAmiga is an example of
a new generation that we would definitely be interested in purchasing.

   Many professionals and enthusiasts make up our group.  Two (and perhaps
more ) are well known in the Amiga community.  We all have an interest in
seeing the Amiga continue and would support any company endeavour to
continue producing the machines we love.  In fact we are willing to offer
our time in anyway that would be helpful to you and your efforts to create
the next generation as well as update current soft-and-hardware.  We will
share our next Journal, the Amiga-GURU that we have published for over ten
years.  In fact, last February was the tenth anniversary of our User Group.

   We look forward to hearing about your plans for the future of the Amiga
and hope that you include user groups, such as ours, in those plans.  Our
offer to help is no ploy; it is a serious commitment to con tinuing the
only computer that created a community of users rather than just
purchasers.  We hope that other User Groups and you will join with us in
renewing our community through a new generation of commitment, cooperation
and soft/hardware.

Membership of The Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group

Peter Babula          George Woodworth
Joanne Bandlow        Ed Marconi
Dan French            Larry Keller
Bob Tracy             Frank Augustine
Steven Yee            George Pirkel
Tony Botta            James Boros
Douglas Lehnhart      Jeffery Burford
Paul Marinchick       Frank Purdy
John Welch            Bill Strack
Steve Roberts         Mike Kramer
Carl Hartman          Sally Caskey
John Rozack           Arthur Luecke
James Marras          Phyllis Edberg
Dale Barnett          Doug Blakeley
David Hare            Al Gudenas
James Wessel          Carl Skala
Julia Grauel          Ken Gessford
Sanford Lebovitz      Clifford Holt
Alexander Rivera      Christopher Simmons
Wayne Draznin         Calvin Simmons
Art Rossi             Jim Wohl
Mike Rozack           Philip Stelmashuk
Edith Goldstein       Chuck Miller
Mark Schweter
@endnode
@node OPINION3 "Amigas of the Future"
@toc OPINION

===========================================================================
                           Amigas of the Future
  Eyal Teler                                          teler@cs.huji.ac.il
===========================================================================

After reading the Message from Sweden in AR4.07, I felt that my own opinion
should be heard, as a representative of a different viewpoint. 

I'm a PC owner for almost a year and a half now (a slow 486-66, but still
considerably faster than my Amiga was).  I'm still following the Amiga
scene, because I like the Amiga, although I must say that as time passes,
even PC OSs are getting better in some areas than the Amiga OS (and the
hardware, well...).

I can't say I represent any specific crowd.  Basically, I like cheap
machines which do a lot of things; I don't need the newest, greatest
technology, but I do buy good things when I see them (like the Syquest
EZ135); I play games and do word processing most of the time, but I also
program and run the occasional paint or 3D program.

With the new potential buyout, which means that new Amigas will likely take
even longer to arrive, I'm getting a bit pessimistic, but I'm still
hopeful.  So here's what I think (I tried to keep to the numbering of the
Swedish text).  What I have in mind is a kind of "stop gap" machine.  
Something good enough to convince people that the Amiga is a worthwhile buy
(or at least worth checking out).  I'd love a PowerPC Amiga (or whatever
fast processor) for the future, and I know what I want from it (again, a
cheap price is first on the list), but I think that something is needed in
the meanwhile, and a Walker-like Amiga is a good start.

1.  I always liked the small boxes of the A500 and its kin, but it seems
that most others don't.  Big boxes are more practical, since they allow
more devices inside.  So here I agree with others (and AT, it seems).

2.  Standard components are a good thing, especially if they are advanced
enough.  Again the Walker is a good thing.

3.  SCSI should be optional.  EIDE is cheap, and provides very high speeds.
EIDE disks are cheaper than their SCSI counterpart.  Most computer users
(i.e., PC users) seem to be satisfied with EIDE.

4.  The Amiga should have a large hard disk and a CD-ROM as standard. 
Prices are quite cheap - a quad speed CD-ROM would cost me $60+VAT here in
Israel, so it should be even cheaper in the US, for example.  Don't go for
the latest and greates hardware.  I want a cheap Amiga which is good
enough.  I don't want to pay for technology which I don't really need (like
8x CD-ROMs - even though these should be very cheap by the time the Walker
arrives, so perhaps should be included).  I certainly don't want to be
forced to buy non-standard technology for a high price (like a ZIP), where
I'd rather select it by myself (and get an IDE EZ135).

5.  I'll come back to the bundled software later.

6.  AGA is not very good as a hardware standard.  I'd still say that an AGA
Amiga could sell, because AGA is adequate for many needs.  If possible, a
very cheap PC SVGA chip should be includes (and the two should be
integrated as best as possible).  Even a pure frame buffer with no
acceleration will be enough - it gives a chunky display and low end true
colour (or high colour).  I don't need 16-bit sound.  More voices will be
nice (most PC programs take a lot of CPU time to simulate several voices on
non-wave-table sound cards), but for now the Amiga sound is still adequate
for games, especially with CD sound available through the CD-ROM drive.  A
DSP might be a nice addition, although a Java chip could be a nice
alternative. 

7.  MP and RT can be a nice addition for a future OS upgrade.  I think than
most important for the OS will be support of SVGA cards as standard,
especially if the new Amiga comes with a PCI bus.

10.  A virtual workbench might not be practical (especially with the low
resolutions of today's VR glasses), but built in support for 3D and VR
could be a nice addition to a next generation Amiga.  A VR bundle could be
a nice thing, but will only work if it comes with enough software (i.e.,
games), and is cheap enough to compete with PC offerings.

11.  Put all the cheap hardware you can into the Amiga.  Sound sampling
first.  All PCs have it.  8 bit is enough for now.  Allow both LINE IN and
MIC.  Voice control could be added.  Even if it's minimal, it'll be nice. 
The number of voice controlled games on the PC is very small (I know of
one), strangely enough, so Amiga could have a good start in this area.  
MIDI will also be nice.  If you can have decent quality genlocking as
standard (for cheap), that'll be nice too.  A DSP (or Java chip) are cheap,
too, so might be another option.  Don't go overboard, though - putting a
$200 3D chip and a $200 detachable drive will raise the price too much and
provide too little benefit (PC programmers usually prefer to use the CPU
for 3D anyway, because it's more flexible).

12.  Use a 20MHz 68EC040 as the entry level CPU.  These cost $50 in
quantities of 1000 some 3 years ago.  I don't know the current prices, but
they must be cheap enough, even in the socketed version.  A socketed
68EC040 should on one hand be adequate and cheap for an entry level Amiga,
and on the other hand be upgradable to a fast 68060 in the same socket. 
(PC people will appreciate this.)

13.  Keep the price low!  A low end Pentium multimedia machine costs less
than $1500.  For this price you can get 16MB of RAM and a 1.3MB hard disk,
a 16-bit sound card and 6x CD-ROM drive, a 15" monitor, and some bundled
software.  Sure, it'll be a nameless PC, but it'll survive for a year or
two (by which time it'll be old technology).  The Amiga won't be able to
compete in terms of power, but might be able to survive if it has a low
price point, and comes with an attractive enough bundle.  Price is more
important than features.  Hardware features which are not dirt cheap to add
shouldn't be added, unless current software will be able to use them (like
a MIDI interface, for example).  Take a DSP, for example - it might be a
nice option, but it won't survive into the PowerPC age (as happened to
Macs), and older Amigas don't have it.  Unless the stop-gap Amiga is with
us for a long time, the DSP won't get much use (a Java chip will get more
use, probably).

14.  Bundle, bundle, bundle!  This is probably most important.  This is,
IMHO, what can make the Amiga sell, and can make people write programs for
it.  I wanted to write about this to AT, so I'll kind of address this to
them.

The first target of bundling is convincing people that the Amiga has
software.  This is a very difficult task, considering that the PC has
considerably more software in most (if not all) areas.  Contrary to popular
Amiga misconception, PC software is cheap and powerful (although there are
of course very powerful programs which are also very expensive).  Building
a good software library can be done by buying British PC mags (as in the
case of the Amiga), and Imagine 3 and Vista Pro 3 have already been bundled
with Future Publishing magazines.

IMO, the Amiga should be bundled with as much software as possible.  This
doesn't have to be the latest software, but it has to cover every type of
software imaginable.  And software which is not bundled as a full program
should be there as a demo.  Give everything that was given with Amiga mags.
PC bundles are usually unimaginative - a productivity bundle, a photo
editing (and perhaps morphing) program, a multimedia encyclopaedia, some
games and some educational programs.  The Amiga should come with 3D
programs, MIDI programs (Bar&Pipes, Music X), automatic music creators,
sampling and effects software, image editors, multimedia design programs
(Scala and the like), DTP programs, structured drawing, and, of course,
productivity programs of all types.  Emulators should be there in force,
too.  Mac and PC ones, of course, but C64 and others, too.  Just put
everything.  If there's no place on one CD, use two.  Almost forgot
Internet and networking programs.  Internet is very important.  And don't
hesitate to give good PD programs in the bundle.

Not to be forgotten are games.  The PC is very strong here.  There should
be games of all types included.  The obligatory Doom-style games should be
there, of course, but adventure/RPG/strategy games should be there in
force, too, as much as possible.  If there's one reason I like PC gaming is
the number of strategy and adventure games.  It doesn't matter if the
bundled games are a bit old, but people must know that the Amiga has
everything.  X-COM (UFO: enemy unknown), Sim-City 2000, Frontier, King's
Quest 6, Simon the Sorcerer should be put there.  Even oldies like Eye of
the Beholder could add to the attractiveness of the bundle.  Did Magic
Carpet ever make it to the Amiga?  Any decent flight simulator?  And, of
course, the arcade style games.  These have always been better on the
Amiga.

The number of actual games bundled should not be too great, but they should
be as varied as possible, and there should be as many demos as possible. 
There should also be a CD32 game (or a specially designed CD game), to
prove that multimedia and game animations are known to the Amiga.  Try to
include games and demos which run from Workbench, and can quit back to it.
Windows 95 users will soon see it as a must.

Include a British-magazine-style instructions for the software.  A 200-300
page magazine, with 10 page instructions and tutorials for full programs,
1-2 pages for demos, 1/2 page to 1 page for games and game demos.  And this
mag should include upgrade offers to the full packages and latest versions.

The other way of convincing people that the Amiga is worth something is to
put technology demos on the disk.  If possible, put demos of things the PC
cannot do, or doens't have as standard yet.  For example (the only thing I
can think of that the PC doesn't really have), do overscan video.  Is it
possible to display high frame rate full screen HAM8 (or even just 256
colour) overscan video from a quad speed drive?  I hope that a 68EC040 or a
bundle DSP could do it.  Voice control of some Workbench elements?  Why not
bundle a head mounted microphone for this?  Have a tutorial with video and
speech.  Everything that shows that the Amiga is still at the forefront of
technology (even though it's not) should be put there.

Make people feel at home with the Amiga.  Give as much documentation as
possible.  What you don't give as books give as AmigaGuide docs (or HTML
docs, for this matter).  Have interactive tutorials of both workbench and
the shell.  Have full ARexx docs.  Have tips and tricks.  Show the special
features of the Amiga.  Give online docs for bundled programs.

The last thing that the bundle should do is make people write for the
Amiga.  For one thing, companies will want their programs and demos to
appear on the CDs, and PD programmers will also want the recognition (I
assume that the bundle will change every several months).  But the other
way to convince people to write for the Amiga is to make it easy, and
that's where the bundle comes in.

First of all, give as much documentation as possible.  It shouldn't be too
difficult to create an AmigaGuide version of Includes and Autodocs.  And
giving the latest includes in the bundle will also be nice.  Give
instructions on ARexx programming, have a programming guide for the
Installer.  Everything possible should be there.  I don't expect the
complete books of how to program the Amiga, but the above will give a good
start for programmers.

Secondly, bundle programming languages.  When I said that I want everything
bundled, I meant it.  Give AMOS, Blitz, Devpac, DICE, and anything else
which have been given on coverdisks.  Let the companies offer upgrade
options to the latest, full versions.  Give PD language implementation
(Oberon, etc.).  Include GUI creators.  That's very important - no PC
programming suite will come without one.

If possible, this bundle should be made available to existing Amiga owners.


Okay, that's it for now. Comments are welcome.

  Eyal
--
teler@cs.huji.ac.il
ET's home page is at http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~teler
@endnode
@node NEWS1 "ShapeShifter v3.5"
@toc NEWS

TITLE

  ShapeShifter

VERSION

  3.5

AUTHOR

  Christian Bauer

  EMail: bauec002@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de
  SMail: Christian Bauer, Max-Planck-Str.60, 55124 Mainz, Germany

DESCRIPTION

  ShapeShifter is a multitasking shareware Macintosh-II emulator for
  the Amiga and DraCo computers. It allows to run Macintosh software
  concurrently to Amiga applications without hardware add-ons or
  modifications.

  Some of the emulation's features:

   - Color display up to 256 colors on AGA Amigas (16 colors on ECS)
     and up to 16.7 million colors on graphics cards
   - Support for one or two monitors
   - No MMU required, even runs on A1200
   - Macintosh hard disks can be simulated in Amiga files or Amiga
     hard disk partitions
     [unregistered version has no hard disk partition support]
   - Can use Amiga floppy drives, serial, parallel and SCSI ports
     from the Mac
     [use of SCSI not possible in unregistered version]
   - Mac HD disks can be read directly with an HD floppy drive,
     Mac 720K disks can be used with any Amiga floppy drive. To use
     Mac 800K disks, you have to own CrossMAC and an original Mac
     drive
   - Multichannel sound output and parallel-port sound digitizers
     supported
   - Access to Ethernet networks
   - Simple networking between two Amigas with PLIP
   - Text clipboard sharing between Mac and Amiga
   - File handler to access Macintosh volumes from the Workbench
   - Speed comparable to a real Mac with equivalent hardware

  The most important changes in V3.5:

   - AppleTalk/MacTCP/MacIPX can be used on two Amigas connected via
     PLIP
   - ShapeShifter is System 7.5.3 compatible
   - System 7.5.1 runs better on the DraCo
   - The serial driver allows using 115 and 230kbps transmission speed
     on an appropriately fast machine
   - New PrepareEmul which co-operates better with other KickTags

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

  OS2.1, 68020 processor, 4MB of RAM, HD floppy drive recommended.
  A copy of a Macintosh 512K or 1MB ROM and the Macintosh system
  software are not included, but required. The ROM can be read off
  of a real Mac by using a supplied program, the system software
  can be bought from Apple. Note, however, that reading the ROM is
  only legal if you have bought the ROMs or own a real Macintosh.

AVAILABILITY

  Aminet sites: /misc/emu/ShapeShifter.lha
  ftp://ftp.biologie.uni-erlangen.de/incoming/ShapeShifter3_5.lha
  Next Generation BBS, Germany (ShapeShifter support BBS)
    Port 1: +49-261-805012  (Zyx19.2/ISDN)
    Port 2: +49-261-84280   (V.FC)

PRICING

  The requested shareware fee is DM 50,- or US$ 40.
  Upon registration you will receive a keyfile that enables the
  disabled features (SCSI and hard disk partition support).

DISTRIBUTABILITY

  Shareware (DM 50,- or US$ 40 requested)
@endnode
@node NEWS2 "ImageFX Online Special"
@toc NEWS

ImageFX Online Summer Special

For Immediate Release

Contact:        Bob Fisher
                Nova Design, Inc.
                1910 Byrd Avenue, Suite 214
                Richmond, VA 23230  USA
                804-282-3768 Fax

Richmond, VA - Tuesday, May 28, 1996.  Nova Design, Inc.  announced that
beginning immediately they are offering a summer special on in stock copies
of ImageFX 2.1a, the previous release of ImageFX.  This limited time offer
is being made directly to th e online community via Compuserve and the
Internet while supplies last.

Step Up To ImageFX!

Have you always wanted realtime interactive previews?  Advanced 24-bit
painting tools?  Complete, real, Toaster/Flyer support?  Regionalized image
processing and special effects?  Complete image format conversion tools?  
Multiple UNDO features?  Batch processing?  Virtual Memory?  Full color,
15/16/24-bit, displays?  Blue/Green Screen compositing?  Morphing?  Lens
Flares?  All these features, and hundreds more, are in ImageFX.

Unprecedented Bargain

This summer special is a unique once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity.  It offers
a discount never before made to the Amiga public that cannot be matched.  
Video Toaster User magazine says, "You must have this program.  Period."
Amazing Computing called ImageFX, "Photoshop/Fractal Painter for the
Amiga".   Computer Video put it more simply when they said, "Holy cow!".

Limited Time Offer

The summer special ends on June 30, 1996 or when the current stock of
ImageFX 2.1a is depleted.  Absolutely no upgrade orders will be taken after
that date.

Special Pricing

The summer special on ImageFX 2.1a is priced at only $169.95 plus shipping
and handling charges of $5.00 US - $7.00 elsewhere.  To order call us at
1-800-IMAGE-69 in the US and Canada, or (804) 282-1157 elsewhere, to place
your order at extension 20 6.  You can also order via email at:
orders@novadesign.com - anytime day or night!

Take advantage of our instant upgrade to ImageFX 2.6 as well!  For only an
additional $34.95 you can immediately upgrade to the newest ImageFX release
as well!

ImageFX is a trademark of Nova Design, Inc.  All other trademarks are held
by their respective owners.  See us on-line at http://www.novadesign.com
@endnode
@node NEWS3 "Aweb-II"
@toc NEWS

==========================================================================
AmiTrix                      PRESS RELEASE                    June 3, 1996
==========================================================================

       Announcing AWeb-II, the Amiga Web Browser & HTML Generator!
       -----------------------------------------------------------

AmiTrix Development is pleased to announce the first commercial release of
the popular WWW Browser "AWeb" by Yvon Rozijn, along with the first
commercial release of the "HTML-Heaven" suite of code generating tools by
Paul Kolenbrander.  Both programs will be bundled together with additional
tools in the new AWeb-II package to be published & distributed by AmiTrix.

AWeb-II will include the following:

- AWeb v2.0, now with support for background images, localization, icons,
  hierarchical hotlist, background/text/link colours, image borders, 
  centering, enhanced lists, user-configurable ARexx menu, more ARexx 
  commands, limited frame support, history window, external default images,
  plug-in support for mail/FTP/telnet/news, automatic TCP stack start/stop,
  and other new HTML 3.2 tags, with more to come.

- HTML-Heaven v2.0, with new ToolChest and Charrie programs, added support
  for HTML 3.2 tags, HTML tutorial, and WYSIWYG editing using AWeb with 
  almost any  ARexx compatible text editor.  Create your own Web Pages and
  documents with ease by simple point & click insertion of tags from the
  tool lists, and now Charrie adds HTML entities as well. More new features
  are under development.

- AWebMail & AWebFTP ARexx plug-ins by Josef Faulkner.

- FTPMount v0.8 FTP filesystem plug-in by Evan Scott.

- HTTX, an HTML to text conversion program by Gabriele Favrin.

- A free upgrade will be provided to registered purchasers of AWeb-II once
  the addition of table support and further HTML 3.2 features have been 
  completed.

The authors wish to assure the existing registered users of the shareware
versions of AWeb v1.x and HTML-Heaven v1.x that they will be able to upgrade
to the new version.

AmiTrix is proud to have been selected as the exclusive distributor for
AWeb and HTML-Heaven!  Along with AWeb-II, SCSI-TV, SCSI-TV570, AmigaLink,
and other new products to be released in the coming months, we look forward
to the continued revival of the Amiga.

A new demo version of AWeb v1.2 has now been uploaded to AmiNet for you to
try out, some of the advanced features are not enabled in it, of course.

AWeb-II requires at least 2MB Ram, Workbench/Kickstart 3.0 or better, a
TCP/IP stack to access the WWW, and appropriate GIF/JPEG datatypes.

Scheduled release date for AWeb-II is July 1/96, MSRP will be $45.00 US.

Dealer and Customer inquiries welcomed, for more information or ordering 
AmiTrix products, contact us at:

AmiTrix Development,
5312 - 47 Street,
Beaumont, Alberta, T4X 1H9
Canada
Phone or Fax: 1+ 403-929-8459

(Please leave your mailing address, phone/fax number, and/or email)
(address on phone messages when requesting information.)

You may also contact us via email at the addresses shown below.

Email: sales@amitrix.com
 or: support@amitrix.com
http://www.networkx.com/amitrix/index.html

==========================================================================
Cheers,
---
+    _       ____________   tm    Dale Currie    ____    ___     _      +
|   /.\    ..     | __    \ /  dalec@amitrix.com    / __[___]__  T   tm |
|  /___\  /\/\  | | |_) |  X  support@amitrix.com  /    (o.o)    |      |
| /     \/ ^^ \ | | | \ | / \  Edmonton AB Canada /     `-^-'    |      |
|/ - D E V E L O P M E N T - \      AmiTrix      /___ Z O R R O  I N K !|
+    ---------------------     Technical Support      ----------------  +
@endnode
@node NEWS4 "Wolf Dietrich Responds"
@toc NEWS

Open answer on Dave Haynie's comments on the current Amiga situation of May
22 from Wolf Dietrich, General Manager phase 5 digital products, on May 25,
96

With interest I have read Dave's comments on the current Amiga situation. 
As we and the Amiga are in a situation where a lot of major decisions for
the future of this system are to come, I would like to answer some of his
comments to reflect our position and partial different view of things.

First of all, there was no animosity on our part against AT - we just
wanted to get things going, and so we started the PowerUP project in late
95 as AT wasn't giving any view or commitment.  We had been offering AT all
of our support for quite a long time, and continued to do so in a situation
where there was no development, no resources, no vision; what Dave believes
to be an animosity was simply the great concern that things wouldn't go
into the right direction for the Amiga.  Meanwhile, all development on AT
side is cancelled, so there is no more cooperation as there is nothing left
to cooperate in.

But let's get into some technical considerations.  First of all, Dave
states that our software development is kind of a hack.  Funny to hear
that, as he has not seen a single line of code, and also was not involved
in in-depth discussions about what we are doing.  To simply state the
facts: For our PowerUp program, which's goal is to develop PPC upgrade
boards for existing Amiga systems, we have re-written Exec and Expansion in
PPC Natice Code, and two versions of 68k emulators to run the rest of the
OS out of the system ROM.  This is not a kind of a hack, but simple the
first step which we could realize.  Our plan to add a PPC native version of
CyberGraphX - which has emerged as a standard today - is just a software
add-on to increase the performance of those upgraded systems where parts of
the OS have to be emulated.  This way is not very different from, for
example, having a 68040 or a 68060 library to emulate in software what is
different in the processor hardware - however, as 68k and PPC have some
significant differences, it can not simply be realized by a library or a
new setpatch, but needs a completely re-written, but fully
function-compatible Exec.

Now getting to the comments on the hardware design.  First of all, I leave
it up to the public to judge if our announced systems are overpriced (see
http://www.phase.de in the news section); also the non-standard argument is
missing any fundamental.  I know from the technology meetings which AT,
Motorola and phase5 joined in the recent months, that Dave's vision of a
new computer is a standard PPRP mainboard, with a PPC CPU and a PCI bus and
that's it; any idea of adding something specific which would have to be
developed had been rejected by him in these discussions.  But, all
innovative developments today contain some individual parts, mostly in form
of FPGAs or ASICs; it's the only way to build something that stands out of
the mass markets.  We at phase 5 definitely believe that a new Amiga system
needs some unique H/W features as it had in the past; just having a ported
OS running on a standard PPRP system which also runs MacOS, WindowsNT, and
so on, would be the death of AmigaOS simple as there would be no sufficient
reason for S/W developers to continue writing their code for Amiga OS.  But
even if Amiga OS would survive for some time with some application or
shareware support, it would be the death of the Vision Amiga which never
had been just another PC (no matter if there is a PPC or a Pentium inside).

As Dave's comments on the rapid changes of the industry are concerned: We
know these rapid changes, we live - succesfully - in this world.  Are chips
more complex to design today?  Chips are more complex, but sophisticated
design tools, powerful design workstations, and comprehensive functionality
libraries are available today for ASIC designers.  Today it's possible to
start *VERY* complex designs on FPGA basis and go to the more expensive
silicon in certain stages of the development.  IC processes are *NOT*
exponentially more expensive than some years ago, at least not for
companies who want to do custom designs and get strongest support from
various ASIC suppliers in the world, among them the very big names such as
Motorola.  Yes, even those big ones go together to build new fabs for the
next millennium, but were we talking about building a next generation IC
fab? 

As a summary of this, let me say the following: It has never been easier
even for medium-sized companies to develop own, complex and demanding
custom ICs than today.  In such custom designs, visionary ideas can be
realized cheaper than ever to provide extremely powerful products.  Yes, by
choosing *COMPLETELY* standard system (such as fully-assembled PPC
mainboards) the cost of a system may be reduced by some bucks - but not by
hundreds of Dollars.  And that's what we, as we stated, don't want to do -
dropping great concepts and features that make up a very special and
powerful system to maybe save $25. 

OK, all practical bits aside, Dave came up with the question what will come
out in the end.  It's as simple as this: A computer that runs a PPC OS
which is compatible with Amiga OS.  Long before this computer comes out,
*LOTS* of developers who have already joined the PowerUp program and are
supported by us can prepare their software to make use of advanced features
of this new OS, while other existing software will be running with the
current features in 68k emulation.  As most professional software vendors
do support the PowerUp program, PPC native apps should be there in a
considerable quantity and quality by next year - just as, for example, many
software companies today already support the CyberGraphX standard which has
brought an Amiga-OS compatible 24-bit engine to all these programs and
those users who have a hardware that can display 24 bits of color.

As a matter of fact, what we are doing is the development for a next
generation OS which is Amiga compatible.  We have decided to move on with
our projects after we had lost months of futile discussions with AT -
without those, beta developers today would have the first PPC developer
boards in their hands.  We can't afford to waste more time.  We do see the
problem that the Amiga community can't support multiple OSs, and we are
absolutely open to discuss these issues with the owner of the OS, probably
VIScorp, once they have time for us to talk about these things.  However,
Dave Haynie and the new company PIOS, which he is working for, must also
keep this in mind.  It's obviously PIOS, a new company, that starts out of
nothing (and with no recognizable concept or development behing it) and
claims for themselves to develop and market an OS "which will be recognized
by the market as the next generation of the former AMIGA OS 3.1." (as read
in their web site).  This leaves a lot of questions open.  We had meetings
with the PIOS top management already, who requested our support and
cooperation, so I must wonder whether Dave's comments are only given with
an intention to support PIOS' position in the market.  BTW, everybody out
there may estimate if it is more realistic that an experienced hardware
manufacturer, holding an established market position, develops a powerful
custom ASIC based system, or that a startup company wants to bring the
"ultimate Power Amiga" to life and reach a larger market share than Apple
Computer in four years from now.

phase 5 is very well aware that it will be a big and demanding task to
write an Amiga-OS compatible PPC OS; however, we have a large team of very
experienced S/W developers, and we have been working on parts of this
project for quite some time.  While I can not judge how much efforts other
mentioned companies spent into their projects, we are sure to reach our
goals with the strong efforts we invest into this project.

To finalize my open answer, I must strictly reject that last comment from
Dave, which we could see as an affront.  We will neither adopt an unnamed
OS nor will we offer an ugly hack; but much more important, we are not
"stealing the AmigaOS", as Dave assumes.  There are lots of peope out
there, and companies which these people work for, who have been involved
closely with Commodore or AT in the past, and do have access to proprietary
information.  We had several negotiations with AT, but no final agreements,
and we never had any access to proprietary information or other proprietary
stuff.  Dave may address his assumptions that someone could steal the
AmigaOS into the direction of such people mentioned above, but not into
ours.  Again, I strictly reject any statement that includes any such
speculation.

I hope this statement supports readers building up their own opinion of the
current situation around the Amiga.  phase 5 digital products, to reinforce
this, is committed to the idea and vision Amiga.  We'll continue with our
project and support for all Amiga developers, fans and users.  Everybody
out there please feel free to mail us her/his comments and suggestions for
the future of the Amiga and our project.

Wolf Dietrich
General Manager of phase 5 digital products
Amiga-dedicated since the A1000

You can contact phase 5 digital products at:

http://www.phase5.de
mail@phase5.de
aproject@phase5.de
Fax +49 6171 583789

or by mail to the street address:

phase 5 digital products
In der Au 26
61440 Oberursel, Germany
@endnode
@node NEWS5 "Spherical Worlds"
@toc NEWS

                             Spherical Worlds
                                 A Game by
                                 4-Matted
                      Published by NEO Software GmbH.

Features:       - 15 tricky levels.
                - a lot of bonus-levels.
                - many different extra weapons
                - rendered animations will guarantee the atmosphere
                - fast and smooth scrolling in all directions.
                - harddisk installable.

Genre:          - Shoot'em up.
Runable:        - all Amigas with min. 1MB RAM.
Available for:  - all Amigas with 1MB.
                - Amiga CD-ROM.
Available from: - April 1996.

         Meet us in the World Wide Web: http://www.info.co.at/neo

             Playable demo available on Aminet (check below).
___________________________________________________________________________

                             SHORT DESCRIPTION

Game has top-view.  As it has all of the movement smooth (not just
scrolling) it gives great feeling of speed, and playability.  Additionaly,
enemies have various intelligence, from slow and stupid to fast with
guns/mines.

However, you have enough fire power to deal with them.  Many weapons you
use are fully different one from each other.  And there are also few
extras, like guided missiles and nukes.  Special weapon screen with
rendered rotating weapon images is used for fitting mentioned equipment and
weapons.

Sounds follow the game and have great influence on raising game level of
realism.
1
           ANIMATED (RENDERED) FULL SCREEN MOVIE-LIKE SEQUENCES

Movie-like intro, lasts few minutes.  Full screen animation is played in
HAM mode (4096 colours on screen) with background music.  Ending sequence
will reward best players.  There are also animated scenes beetwen
game-levels.

                              EXTRA FEATURES

You  are  expected  with  few  extras  like  ingame  rendered pictures, and
animations, and bonus levels.  3D full screen motion level with moving
perspective and deadly walls comming towards your ship-carrier really has
to be seen in motion.

All of that is better to see than to talk about, and better to look in
motion than to look at static pictures, so check free demo on Aminet...

___________________________________________________________________________

Spherical Worlds - playable demo also available on any Aminet FTP site and
Aminet CD (as soon as it is released)

pub/aminet/game/demo or aminet/game/demo (depending of FTP site)

Game file is named:
sworlds.lha

For example:

ftp://ftp.netnet.net/pub/aminet/game/demo/sworlds.lha
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/demo/sworlds.lha
ftp://ftp.tas.gov.au/pub/aminet/game/demo/sworlds.lha
ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/game/demo/sworlds.lha 
@endnode
@node NEWS6 "Aminet is Biggest FTP Archive"
@toc NEWS

Subject: Aminet is world's largest archive - contest

                Aminet message of the day - special issue

AMINET IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTION OF FREELY DISTRIBUTABLE SOFTWARE

According to the statistics at www.shareware.com, the 29000 files found in
Aminet now represent the world's largest collection of freely distributable
software for any computer system.  This is an incredible achievement by
everyone involved, but especially the authors of all the software found
here.  We all owe them a big thank you.

At the same time, Aminet shows the fastest natural growth ever with 427
files uploaded just last week.  And its size just crossed five gigabytes,
which is almost twice the size it was one year ago.  If you would like more
info on what has been going on lately, read docs/misc/30000.txt

                CONTEST - 60 CDs AND ONE DRIVE TO BE WON

To celebrate this event, we have decided to run another contest.  To take
part, estimate the number of files that were on Aminet one year ago, on
16-May-95, and send your answer, just the number, in the body of a mail to
aminet-server@aminet.org (you should get a confirmation mail).  The ten
people who get the closest win a one year Aminet CD subscription, and the
best guess in addition wins a quadspeed CDROM drive to go with it.  Only
one vote per person.  Good luck!

 Urban D. Mueller - umueller@aminet.org
@endnode
@node NEWS7 "Amiga Locale Homepage"
@toc NEWS

                The AMIGA Locale Homepage

         http://www.intercom.no/~andersb/locale

The aim of this page is to create a center for translations and 
translators. First of all you will find information about what
programs are available in a specific language. As of the 22 May,
Norsk and Greek are available, but more is being made. This 
still means that I need someone to take care of these languages:
Dansk, Deutsch, Frangais, Italiano, Espaqol, Nederlands, polski,
Portugujs, Suomi, Svenska and maybe even more that I can't think
of. If you think you can help with one of the languages, contact
me at the email mentioned later.

Futhermore, I want to create a network of translators, to help 
programmers get their programs translated. If you can translate
programs which support locale into a language, please contact me,
or look on the web-page for more information.

For comments, suggestions or flames, contact:

Email:  andersb@intercom.no (Anders Bakkevold)
  url:  http://www.intercom.no/~andersb/locale 
@endnode
@node NEWS8 "OctaMED Soundstudio V1"
@toc NEWS

                      OctaMED Soundstudio V1

             Release Date  - Prices And Ordering Details

     OctaMED Soundstudio V1 will be released on  August 1st 1996

The floppy disk version will be supplied with a manual, whereas the Compact
Disk will have the manual in Guide format on the CD itself and at time of
writing it is planned to have not only an English language version of the
program on the CD, but also German, French Italian and may even have the
much forgotten Polish language.

If you have a CD unit, then purchase of the CD version is a much better
deal due to us not having to charge for the expensive printed manual,
however, if you decide later that you still want it, you will be able to
obtain a copy by sending the special inlay card which will be within the CD
cover.

Until licencing is sorted out, the floppy version will only be available
directly from RBF Software, however, the CD should be available from your
local supplier and if he does not stock it....  Ask him to fax us on +44
(01) 703 785680

If you wish to purchase the floppy disk, or for that matter, the CD version
directly from us, then here are the prices:-


Floppy disk  version with printed manual (for new users)....

(Registered V6 users see the Med User Group Members prices below)

( For those interested in the CD, please read prices further on )


ORDERS FROM WITHIN UK:           75.00 GBP

ORDERS FROM WITHIN REST OF EC:   85.00 GBP

ORDERS FROM REST OF WORLD:       90.00 GBP

                      GBP = POUNDS STERLING

This price includes postage, two installation diskettes, plus laser printed
manual and a years free Med User Group Membership.

Price for currently Registered  MED USER GROUP  members:-
( These Prices also apply to registered V6 purchasers )

As a member, all you have to do is include your MUG registration number As
a registered V6 owner, you need to include the "ownercode" given in the
"about" window of the program.

(These upgrade prices only relate to the floppy version, not the CD)

( no MUG registration number, or no V6 ownercode details, no deal!  )

ORDERS FROM WITHIN UK:           35.00 GBP

ORDERS FROM WITHIN REST OF EC:   40.00 GBP

ORDERS FROM REST OF WORLD:       45.00 GBP

                 Okay, now for the Compact Disk version:

Upgrade prices for the Weird Science V6 CD purchasers are given in
brackets, but please remember that to obtain this upgrade offer directly
from us, you must quote the "ownercode" details that are displayed in the
"about" window of the program.  We cannot give you the upgrade price
without this being quoted with orders.

ORDERS FROM WITHIN UK:           34.99 GBP      ( 24.99 )

ORDERS FROM WITHIN REST OF EC:   39.99 GBP      ( 29.99 )

ORDERS FROM REST OF WORLD:       44.99 GBP      ( 34.99 )

Please note that all the above quoted prices only relate to orders made
directly from RBF- Software in the UK.

All prices quoted are inclusive of postage etc.

Send orders to:

               RBF Software.
               169, Dale Valley Rd,
               HollyBrook,
               Southampton S016 6QX
               ENGLAND.

Methods of payment

UK:

Orders accepted via postal order, cheque, cash (by registered post only), 
made payable to RBF Software

Outside UK:

Giro, Bankers draught, or Eurocheque, made payable to RBF Software
Or:
American Express, made payable to R. Burt-Frost (not RBF Software).

Note that RBF Software will only supply the English language version of the
floppy at this time and we do not accept credit card orders.

The above prices will *not* apply to other suppliers of the Floppy or CD
versions as they have their own prices due to various things like
importation duties, translation costs, taxes etc.

Should you have any difficulties obtaing the CD version, or if you have any
questions e-mail: rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk

Or post to the above address, however, PLEASE note:

                 ..no return stamp, or IRC no reply.
@endnode
@node NEWS9 "PC <-> Amiga Filesystem"
@toc NEWS

TITLE

     PC <-> Amiga 'network' filesystem

VERSION

     Version 3.8

AUTHOR

     Michal Kara
     Krosenska 543
     Praha 8 - Troja
     181 00
     CZECH REPUBLIC

     E-Mail: lemming@k332.feld.cvut.cz

DESCRIPTION

     Have you ever transfered something between Amiga and PC?  You have
three ways how to do it:

     1) "floppy net" - copy file to a DD disk in the MS-DOS format and read
     it by the Amiga

     2) Use TWIN or EasyLink.  But it has a big disadvantage - it can
     transfer file, but it does not allow applications on Amiga to directly
     access PC's drives - it's not a filesystem.

     3) Use terminal programs and ZMODEM (or another) file transfer
     protocol.  Disadvantage?  As above.

     4) Use AmiTCP.  But you should have some knowledge about TCP/IP
     networking to install it.

     So I decided to write my own filesystem with the feature of remote
access to files on PC from your Amiga.

     How it works?  You just run program on PC, then 'mount PC:' on Amiga
and you can see directories like 'c', 'a', etc.  in the 'PC:' device.

     This program uses the master-slave technique (Yes, PC is the slave
:-).  Transfers are fully independent (it is called the non-context
protocol), so if you write "type pc:c/LongFile.txt" and after some time
reset PC and run the PC part again, the text will continue scrolling.

NEW FEATURES

   Since version 3.4

     - Bidirectional parallel support (at least 40 KB/s from PC to AM and
     26 KB from AM to PC).

     - Windows 95's extended filename support.

   Since version 3.2

     - Parallel support - bigger transfer rates (over 18 KB/s from AM to PC
     and about 11 KB/s from PC to AM with A500 and 386SX.  It grows up with
     computer speed.  It is about 35 KB/s and 20KB/s for accelerated A1200
     and 486DX-2)

   Since version 2.4

     - The main fix is that in finally works with all IRQs from 2 to 7 and
     not just IRQ 4.

     - Program made commodity

     - Debugging version now available to public, written
     PC2AmigaProblems.guide, written PC2AmAna.

     - Configuration may be done via configuration programs (no changing of
     files in a text editor).

     - Some improvements in serial routines.  Now you can use 57600 (about
       4.5 KB/s) with A500 and 386SX/40MHz.

     - A brand new icon set

     - Some other bugs fixed

REQUIREMENTS

     - Kickstart 2.0+, MS-DOS 6.0+

     - Nullmodem cable or LapLink cable (called parallel nullmodem) (not
       included in the package - just its schemes :-)

     - igs.library (included in the package)

     - Commodore Installer.  Not included in the package, but I think
       you have it.  (I don't want to include another 100KB of code that
       almost anyone already has.)

AVAILABILITY

     Program is available on any Aminet site as file PC2Am308.lha in the
     comm/misc directory.

PRICE

     Program is freeware.  But if you really like it, you can send me a
     gift or leave a message.

DISTRIBUTABILITY

     Free as long as the package is not sold for a profit and you notified
me that you have included the PD archive / coverdisk.
@endnode
@node NEWS10 "Amiga Clone"
@toc NEWS

Newstar/Rightiming Electronics Corporation of New Jersey, USA, has
indicated that it will be building an Amiga-compatible computer for the
Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong markets.

Dubbed the Amiga 5A00, the machine will be Amiga OS 3.1 based, with a
built-in CD-ROM drive.  The processor will be a standard 68000 CPU.

Few other details are currently available.  The machine will be marketed as
a home/internet computer, and the company is planning to establish its own
Internet service provider to handle Internet for the Chinese market of its
computer.

For more information, contact:

Jing Jian Li
Vice Chairman/Vice President

Rightiming Electronics Corporation
20 Lexington Ave
Trenton, NJ 07104
newstar1@ix.netcom.com

P. (609)882-0306
F. (609)882-7050
@endnode
@node NEWS11 "Portals"
@toc NEWS

     A.N.G.L.E., Amiga Net Games for Light Entertainment, introduces:

                                  PORTALS

Portals is a Freely Distributable, Internet-based, Fantasy Role Playing
game which recreates the feel of a real RPG (i.e., one played with real
people) because -- wait for it -- you are playing with real people, who
could be anywhere in the world.

   ...THE STORY SO FAR...

In the beginning, there was one land.  The inhabitants were similar to the
humans of our planet.  Suddenly, a massive magical shockwave shattered the
land, and the territories were separated, isolated from one another by a
powerful magical flux.

Over the millennia, the descendants of the original race adapted to their
environment.  The fittest survived and new races were born.  In one
territory, children were born whose bodies were part stone.  In another,
their skin was leathery, reptillian.  In another, the harsh conditions led
to the placing of great emphasis on combat.  In the frozen icelands, beset
by many predators, acute hearing and speed became the norm.  And in the
temparate territory, the comfortable life gave rise to a weaker race, who
had more time to study the magical arts and develop them as their means of
defence.

Now, that magical charge is dying away and the territories are growing
closer together.  Small doorways are appearing in the flux, "portals"
through which a person may move from one territory to another.  In time,
they will grow stable but, for now, they seem to appear and disappear at
random.  As the races begin to mix, their leaders develop their own
agendas.  Some wish to conquer the newly rediscovered territories.  Some to
make peace.  Others, merely to ensure their race survives.

Although a state of total peace does not exist between every Lord, and
travellers should beware of putting themselves on the wrong side, this
could be the perfect time for heroes.  Quests are waiting for those brave
enough to attempt them, chests of gold lie in wait for reward, and
uncharted areas beckon to explorers.  The history book, awaits...


        WHAT DOES PORTALS LOOK LIKE?

If we were into generalizations, we'd describe Portals, as "a Fantasy Role
Playing game that looks a bit like Chaos Engine, borrows some bits from
Zelda, pays a tribute to the best MUDs around, and adds tons of its own
nice touches to top it all." Still, this would make Portals no justice at
all, so let's introduce some of its features:

- Eight different territories to explore.  Providing you're able to
  locate the "portals", you could move from the green and peaceful
  Mantero, through the barren land of Ertanis, to the caves of
  Kranaria. 

- Brand new races to choose from.  Being a dwarf or an elf is all very
  well, but wait until you've played a Seleth or a Golem!

- Cooperative and/or competitive strategies depending either on your
  mood, or on the task at hand -- how's that for opportunism?

- Weapons, armours, scrolls, spells, you name it.  Not every race is
  good at everything but, on the other hand, every race can have a go
  at just about everything.

- Exploring, battling, trading, stealing.  Make friends or, then
  again, probably not.  Do whatever you feel like, but be prepared to
  live by the consequences of your behaviour.

- Shops, inns, buildings, treasures, hazards and traps.  No need to
  rent to keep your valuable equipment -- as long as you're not
  fighting for your life, you're free to save and quit just about
  everywhere. 

- Powerful, yet simple and effective chat system.

- Short-term missions (i.e., tasks) you could even complete on your
  own. Well, with a bit of luck and the right equipment, that is!

- Long-term missions (i.e., quests) devised by the Lords according to
  their own agendas.  To succeed, a team effort -- and a well-assorted
  team at that -- is definitely required.

    WHERE TO GET PORTALS?

Well, "Portals" is not yet available.  We're neither a major, nor a minor
software house or, for that matter, a publishing company.  Not that's
there's something wrong about staying in business, being profitable and all
that, heaven forbid!  It's just that our focus is more on providing games
for an area that has not been explored well on the Amiga, and our intention
is to provide "Portals" as a gift to games players worldwide.

Still, although we're not involved with the game's industry, we're not
absolute beginners, either.  Some of us are full-time programmers with a
strong background in UN*X networking.  However, before you ask, we're
definitely Amiga people and, given the opportunity, we like playing games!

Right now A.N.G.L.E.  spans the globe -- from Australia, through Europe, to
North America -- and it's comprised by eight members.  Everything would be
hunky-dory, but we're either full-time employed, part-time employed or
plain students with even tighter deadlines.  On the one hand, this means
we're working on "Portals" in our spare time, often late at night; on the
other hand, this game is really a labour of love and, this is the best bit,
we plan to make it Freely Distributable.

To sum it up, we're constantly looking for more team members.  Since
"Portals" needs tons of hand-drawn graphics, we especially need more gfx
people, but more programmers and a couple of extra musicians to speed
things up, would be just as great.

   A.N.G.L.E. ON THE WWW

Detailed and up to date info, including some VERY early graphics and a
couple of audio snippets, are available at:

http://www.iper.net/angle

and no, it's not a typo -- it's actually "iper", not "hyper"! :)

    A.N.G.L.E. BY E-MAIL

Good old e-mail can be used as well. Send your comments to:

ANGLE-admin@karunko.nervous.com
@endnode
@node NEWS12 "wfmhcybergfx_r3d.library"
@toc NEWS

TITLE

  wfmhcybergfx_r3d.library

VERSION

  40.1

AUTHOR

 Miloslaw Smyk

 E-Mail:  smykm@felix.univ.szczecin.pl

 WWW:  http://dedal.man.szczecin.pl/~thorgal/

 IRC:  Thorgal

 S-Mail:  Miloslaw Smyk
  ul. Orawska 22/34
  70-131 Szczecin
  POLAND

DESCRIPTION

  This is external display library for Real3D v3.11, 3.21, 3.30 and
  CyberGraphX, which has some special features.

FEATURES

  - rendering on 15/16/24-bit deep screens directly to windows you
    use for modelling,

  - simultaneous rendering to several windows at once,

  -two optional dithering modes - Floyd-Steinberg and ordered 4x4
    for high quality 15- and 16-bit deep renderings,

  - contents of any window can be saved as IFF file,

  -small  preferences editor that lets you change dithering modes
    and save your preferred settings to disk,

  -you  can  have more than one copy of Real3D using this library
    at the same time.


SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

  - gfx-board with CyberGraphX
  - Real3D v3.11, 3.21 or 3.30

AVAILABILITY

  via aminet (gfx/board/wfmhcybergfx.lha)
  or from the homepage
  http://dedal.man.szczecin.pl/~thorgal/R3D/main.html

PRICE

  US$ 20 or 30DM for registration
  special price 25PLZ for people living in Poland

  registration see doc-file

DISTRIBUTABILITY

  The unregistered version is freely distributable if it is done
  in a noncommercial way and the contents of the archive are kept
  intact.  The registered version is not freely distributable.


Miloslaw Smyk
@endnode
@node NEWS13 "NetConnect CD-Rom"
@toc NEWS

PRESS RELEASE

FAO     : Existing Amiga Internet users and/or ISP's
Subject : NetConnect CD-Rom
Date    : 15/05/96 

We Need Your Help!
==================

We are in the advanced stages of compiling an "all you need" to get onto
the Internet CD for the Amiga.

This CD will contain licenced software, will be very easy-to-use and will
be aimed at users who:

* Want Internet access but don't know how to get online
* Haven't thought about access but may do after reviews etc
* Have Internet access but cannot get their programs to interact properly

NetConnect will contain a full suite of software including some "extras"
that will present on the CD.

NetConnect will contain two pieces of previously un-announced software that 
will be released at the same time as the CD - and they are looking good!

NetConnect will be available in late June and promotional information will
be released soon!

We need you help to make a CD that is as easy as possible for the new user.

Two areas:

1. ISP information
2. Your Internet experiences

1. ISP Information
==================

Part of the CD will be a simple (but well featured) interface that is
already pre-configured with ISP information. This will allow the user
to select an ISP and not have to worry about netmasks, DNS servers etc
etc.

We need some information about your Internet Service Provider's (ISP's)
details. ISP's outside the UK are paramount!

We currently have info for:

UK : Demon, Global, Enterprise, I-Way, NetKonect, FirstNet, NetDirect, 
     Bogomip, UK Online, Zen Internet

Norway : Norconnect

Austria : I-Node

Germany : Lemke & Fuerst, Axis Information Systems, NET Network Team 

Switzerland : Bitcom

The information needed is:

1. Company name (and country)
2. Contact details (i.e. address, telephone number, email address)
3. DNS Server Address (1 & 2)
4. NetMask
5. Mail Server
6. FTP Server (if applicable)
7. WWW Server
8. IRC Server (if applicable)
9. POP3 Server (if applicable)
10. Static or Dynamic Connection (or both?)
11. SLIP or PPP Dialup Supported?
12. MAX. Modem Speed Connection?
13. List of POPs (Place AND Numbers - i.e. Manchester 0161 123 1234)

+ any other useful information

We *may* need your help with beta-testing. If you have an ISP that is not
listed above then we could use you to test the software for that ISP!

Tell us if you are interested in beta-testing.

2. Your Internet Experiences
============================

To make ease-of-use absolutely paramount we want to know what you would
do to make Amiga Internet access easier!

i.e. What could be done about TCP software, PPP, system setups, Amiga
support with ISP's etc. Even if you think that the Amiga needs more
Internet support within Amiga magazines!

Many thanks for your time. If you want any information about NetConnect,
the contents or would like to help us with beta-testing, contact us as
soon as possible.

Our e-mail address can be found below.

All the best,


Chris Wiles
Active Software.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVE SOFTWARE    |    Tel    - +44 1325 352260
P.O. Box 151,      |    E-Mail - chris@active2.demon.co.uk <Chris Wiles>
Darlington,        |    E-Mail - enquiries@active2.demon.co.uk <Active>
County Durham,     |    Contact- Chris Wiles <Managing Director>
DL3 8YT, ENGLAND   |    Hours  - 9.30am - 6pm GMT Monday to Friday
@endnode

@node NEWS14 "IAM Press Release Pack"
@toc NEWS

Intangible Assets Manufacturing Announces DiskSalv 4

Drexel Hill, PA (May, 1996) Intangible Assets Manufacturing announced the
release of DiskSalv 4, the end result of an internal overhaul of the
program by the author, Dave Haynie.

While few external features have been changed, it has been reworked to fix
even more disk problems and to more easily support more filesystems.   The
utility still supports disk recovery for hard, floppy, and removable media.
Other highlights of the program remain such as salvage, undelete, repair,
unformat, check, and cleanup.  Freely redistributable patch updates for
DiskSalv 4 will be available in the future, as there was for version 3.
(In fact, patch 1 is already available for anonymous FTP from
file://ftp.iam.com/biz/iam)

DiskSalv4 is priced at US$40, and upgrades from DiskSalv3 are available for
$10 plus shipping and handling.

http://www.iam.com
info@iam.com

---

Intangible Assets Manufacturing announces a second printing of
Connect Your Amiga!
A Guide to the Internet, LANs, BBSs, and Online Services

Drexel Hill, PA (May 24, 1996) Intangible Assets Manufacturing announces
the second printing of its best selling book, Connect Your Amiga!  A Guide
to the Internet, LANs, BBSs, and Online Services, by Dale L.  Larson.

The book is revised and updated to include more about the World Wide Web
and how to get access to the Internet from the Amiga.  It also provides
coverage of using the Amiga to access BBS systems and other online
services.  For owners of more than one computer, the book explains how
Amigas can share files and printers with each other on a network, and how
Amigas can connect to PCs, Macs and other computers on a network.

The author is an expert on the Amiga and on computer networking.  Mr.  
Larson was a Software Engineer in Commodore's Amiga Networking Group.  He
worked on AS225 and is one of the principal authors of both the SANA-II
Network Device Driver Specification and the original Amiga Envoy
specification documents.

Despite rising printing costs, IAM kept the list price of the book to
$24.95.  For users who face the chicken-and-egg problem of not being able
to get the software to get started with communications, networks and the
Internet, IAM also offers an eight-disk set of freely redistributable
software.  That set is available seperately for US$27, or with the book for
a package price of only $49.95.  All prices are exclusive of shipping and
handling.

The revised book is already at the printer, and IAM will begin shipping to
customers the week of June 10.  We are accepting advance orders now.

http://www.iam.com/
info@iam.com

[Note, the book did, in fact, start shipping to customers on Monday, June
10.]

---

Intangible Assets Manufacturing
New North American distributor of DICE

Drexel Hill, PA (May 24, 1996) Obvious Implementations Corporation has
appointed IAM as new North American distributor of both the popular C
compiler, DICE, and the remaining Deathbed Vigil T-shirts.

DICE version 3.2 is the complete, integrated development environment that
comes with a full C language compiler for the Amiga.  Its 450 page manual
has examples and tutorials making this the fastest and easiest way to get
started with programming.  It is available for $100 or for $75 to students
or owners of other programming development packages.

The Deathbed Vigil T-shirt features the eject button on the front and
signatures of former Commodore engineers on the back.  Each are 100%
cotton, black, and available for $17 in sizes S-XXXL.

Outside of North America, all orders for these products should go to the
local distributors, not to IAM.

Technical support for DICE is still provided by OIC.  All non-sales
questions should be directed to OIC.

Owners of DICE 3.x can upgrade to 3.2 with the patch available for
anonymous FTP from file://ftp.iam.com/biz/iam.

http://www.iam.com/
info@iam.com

@endnode

@node FEATURE1 "Amiga-VIScorp Feedback"
@toc FEATURE

===========================================================================
                          Amiga-VIScorp Feedback
===========================================================================

[The standardized Amiga feedback form is back, and improved.  In addition
to sending these to Eric Laffont, consider sending them to me, as VIScorp's
consultant on Amiga communicatons, at jcompton@xnet.com.  -Jason]

Amiga-VIScorp Feedback Form  05-21-96
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THIS FORM IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.

PLEASE BE CERTAIN THAT YOU ARE USING THE MOST CURRENT FORM BY CHECKING ON
THE INTERNET FOR "THE AMIGA WEB DIRECTORY" AND "AMIGA REPORT" ON A REGULAR
BASIS!

Email this completed form to: "elaffont@pratique.fr"
*or*, if you are having trouble sending it to the aforementioned address,
send it to : "viking@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca"
and it will be forwarded to Eric Laffont.

Please use this form when sending feedback to VIScorp.  This will help
ensure that your response will be noted along with any changes of opinion.

THIS FORM IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.

Thank you.

Regards,

Vance Schowalter.


Personal Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name           [
Company Name   [
Street Address [
City/Town      [
Province/State [
Postal Code    [
Country        [

Home Phone     [
Business Phone [
Fax            [
Internet Email [
Homepage (URL) [


Please use an asterix "*" whenever prompted by a multiple choice question.

Do not add comments to them, as they will be ignored. If you feel that
comments are necessary, please use the last query which specifically asks
for additional comments.

When prompted for comments, please make them clear and concise.

This questionnaire refers solely to Amiga hardware and software. Do *not*
include PC and/or Mac hardware that you may own apart from your Amiga
hardware.


1. Have you used this feedback form before?

( ) Yes
( ) No

2. In which capacity are you associated with the Amiga computer?
   (Check all that apply)

( ) User
( ) Dealer
( ) Developer

3. How old are you?

( ) 10-15
( ) 16-20
( ) 21-25
( ) 26-30
( ) 31-35
( ) 36-40
( ) Over 40

4. What is your current Marital Status?

( ) Single
( ) Married
( ) Divorced
( ) Widowed

5. Which Gender are you?

( ) Male
( ) Female

6. How many other people use your Amiga(s)?

( ) 1-2
( ) 3-4
( ) 5-6
( ) More than 6 (7+)
( ) None

7. Which Amiga(s) do you currently use/own? (Check all that apply)

( ) CDTV
( ) CD32
( ) A500
( ) A600
( ) A1000
( ) A1200
( ) A1500
( ) A2000
( ) A2500
( ) A3000
( ) A3000T
( ) A4000
( ) A4000T

8. Which AmigaDOS do you currently use? (Check all that apply)

( ) 1.1
( ) 1.2
( ) 1.3
( ) 2.0
( ) 2.1
( ) 3.0
( ) 3.1

9. Do you have 1 or more hard drives?

( ) Yes
( ) No

10. Do you have 1 or more CD-ROM drives?

( ) Yes
( ) No

11. Do you have 1 or more Removable Tape/HardDisk Backup drives?

( ) Yes
( ) No

12. Do you have 1 or more high density (1.76mb) disk drives?

( ) Yes
( ) No

13. Do you have a modem?

( ) Yes, highspeed
( ) Yes, less than 9600 baud
( ) No

14. Which Graphic Cards, if any, do you use? (Check all that apply)

( ) CyberVision64
( ) Retina ZII/III
( ) Piccolo
( ) Merlin
( ) Harlequin
( ) Picasso I/II
( ) OpalVision
( ) Spectrum
( ) Other________________________________
( ) None

15. Which Expansion Accelerator Cards, if any, do you use? (Check all that
    apply)

( ) 020
( ) 030
( ) 040
( ) 060
( ) None

16. How much total (chip & fast) memory does your Amiga have? (if you have
    more than one Amiga, choose the highest)

( ) Under 2mb
( ) 3-5
( ) 6-10
( ) 11-18
( ) More than 18 (up to 128mb)

17. Do you have PC and/or Mac emulation?

( ) Yes
( ) No

18. How long have you been using an Amiga?

( ) Less than 1 year
( ) Less than 5 years (2 to 4)
( ) Less than 10 years (6 to 9)
( ) More than 10 years (10+)

19. How would you rate your Amiga skills and knowledge?

( ) Expert
( ) Advanced
( ) Average
( ) Novice

20. Number each from 1(least to 10(most) according to degree of personal
    importance.

( ) Multi-media (ie. Scala)
( ) Telecommunications (ie. bulletin board system user/sysop)
( ) Internet (ie. cyberdude/tte)
( ) Business (ie. spreadsheet)
( ) CAD (ie. architecture)
( ) Publishing (ie. books, magazines, newsletters, software)
( ) Education (ie. teacher/student software)
( ) Science (ie. Maple)
( ) Music (ie. MIDI, MOD)
( ) Art (ie. Andy Warhol inspired)
( ) Video (ie. Video Toaster)
( ) Programming (ie. ARexx, Basic, C)
( ) Image Processing (ie. photography, filmmaking special effects)
( ) Entertainment (ie. games)
( ) Other _____________________

21. Should VIScorp (Amiga Technologies) continue R&D of the Amiga as a
     personal computer?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

22. Should the AmigaDOS be ported to other platforms?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

23. Should AmigaDOS come with full Internet features?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

24. Should there be an HTML(1/2/3) datatype? (this would allow MultiView to
    be used as an Internet browser and HTML text viewer)

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

25. Should there be more datatypes to support PC and Mac multi-media
    animation formats? (ie. QuickTime, AVI, Fli, MPEG)

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

26. Should AmigaDOS have currently available features enhanced? (ie. shell,
    commodities, (faster?)datatypes)

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

27. Should AmigaDOS have MUI-like enhancements to its GUI system?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

28. Should AmigaDOS have virtual memory as a user preference option?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

29. Should Retargetable Graphics support be implemented?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

30. Should Disk Defragmentor utilities be included with the AmigaDOS Hard
    Disk Tools?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

31. Should Amiga Technologies continue with its current Power Amiga plans?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

32. What do you feel should be done to improve the Amiga's graphics
    capabilities?

>

33. What do you feel should be done to improve the Amiga's audio
    capabilities?

>

34. Would you like to see Amiga clones?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

35. Would you like to see Amiga laptops?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

36. Should all Amigas come with a hard drive?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

37. Should all Amigas come with a CD-ROM drive?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

38. Should future Amigas have the option, like current Pentium PC's, of
    multi-processor expandability?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

39. Should some or all Amigas come with 1.76mb High Density disk drives?

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

40. Should some or all Amigas come with video encoded S-Video (S-VHS)
    output jack? (Provides the sharpest image output)

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

41. Should some or all Amigas come with a built-in 24 bit video digitizer
    (uses S-Video (S-VHS) input jack to provide sharpest image input)?

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

42. Should some or all Amigas come with a built-in 16/32 bit audio
    digitizer (includes microphone, stand and sampler voice recognition 
    software)?

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

43. Should some or all Amigas come with a built-in MIDI port?

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

44. Should Full Motion Video (MPEG I/II) hardware be optionally available
    for all Amigas?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

45. Should all Amigas ship with two or more mb of Graphics memory?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

46. How many mb of Fast memory should Amigas ship with?

( ) 1
( ) 2
( ) 4
( ) 6
( ) 8
( ) 10
( ) More than 10 (11 to 18)
( ) More than 18 (19 to 128)
( ) Undecided

47. Should hands-on components be ergonomically designed? (ie. keyboards,
    mice, etc)

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

48. Should mouse, joystick, and keyboard ports have user-definable
    (modular) locations at the front, side(s), and back of the Amiga
    chassis?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

49. On which side would you prefer them to be, if you could only have one
    choice?

( ) Front
( ) Left
( ) Back
( ) Right
( ) Undecided

50. Should some or all Amigas support internal high-speed modems?

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

51. Should some or all Amigas have Video Expansion slots? (ie. for the
    Video Toaster(Flyer))

( ) Yes, all
( ) Yes, some
( ) No, none
( ) Undecided

52. If Amigas include a CD-ROM drive, should the AmigaDOS be on a CD-ROM
    instead of floppy disks?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

53. Should the talents of professional Amiga users be taken advantage of to
    enhance marketing capability and quality?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

54. Should closer alliances continue to be actively sought out with major
    3rd party developers to produce a better Amiga product faster?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

55. Should VIScorp (Amiga Technologies) maintain International Amiga
    research and development?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

56. Should VIScorp (Amiga Technologies) incorporate global volunteer Amiga
    user groups into official promotional activities such as organizing
    Amiga computer shows, competitions for various applications, etc?

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

57. Should VIScorp (Amiga Technologies) enlist the best coder groups to
    produce storefront demos that are specifically directed at potential
    Amiga buyers? (The demos would mention software/hardware specs and show
    off graphics and audio at their best)

( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Undecided

58. How do you see the Amiga in 2 years, based on the current VIScorp (Amiga
    Technologies) intentions that you are aware of?

>

59. Enter any additional comments not answered above, below. Please be as
    clear and as concise as possible.

>
@endnode
@node REVIEW1 "Review:  Sci Fi Sensations 2"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                        Review: Sci Fi Sensations 2
  Gerard Sweeney                                       gss@arts.gla.ac.uk
===========================================================================

I've just received Sci Fi Sensations 2, and was shocked at what I found.. 
It is 95% of a carbon copy of Sci Fi Sensations #1..  In fact, it seems
they've added very little, and removed quite a lot from the original Sci Fi
Sensations #1 for Disk 1, and just re-issued Disk 2!

Read on for the full details.........

These are the interesting files on Sci-Fi Sensations 2 NOT found on Sci-Fi
Sensations 1....

DISK 1
======

AMIGA ONLY

000FILES.TXT
ALIENSJOKE.DMS
CONTACTHASBEENMAD.DMS
HUMANIOD_BB.DMS
SPACEACEDEMO.DMS
STARTREKGAME_A.DMS
STARTREKGAME_B.DMS
STARWARS_OBJECTS_D.DMS
TERMINATOR2_DEMOA.DMS
TERMINATOR2_DEMOB.DMS
THETHING.DMS
TOBIAS_STARTREK_A.DMS
TOBIAS_STARTREK_B.DMS

There are other non-matching files in this directory. However,
these are simply renames (usually replacing _ with -).

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

GAME GFX

BACK.IFF
CHARARMSs.iff
CHARBEAR.iff
CHARFACE.iff
CHARFUZ.iff
CHARROBO.iff
README
README.info
TWOPLAY.IFF

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

IMAGES

(Root)

AMT-Readme

ALIENS      - No new files
AMT         - No new files (in fact there's a readme less!!)
BATMAN      - No new files (in fact there's 2 less!)
BLADERUNNER - No new files (1 corrupt file less)
DRWHO       - No new files (DOCTOR03.GIF still corrupt)
MISC_PIX    - No new files (in fact there's 21 LESS!!)
PC_BATS     - NO new files
PREDATOR    - No new files
RANGERS     - No new files
ROBOCOP     - No new files
STAR TREK   - No new files (in fact there's 40 LESS!!!)
SEA QUEST   - No new files
STAR WARS   - No new files (in fact there's 7 LESS!!)
TERMIN8OR   - No new files (in fact there's 1 LESS!)
TOTALREC    - No new files

   It would have been nice to have the Trek pics split up into
   their different categories (Classic, TNG, DS9, Voyager).

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

INFOTEXT

FAQ/MANGA
FAQ/ROBOTICS
FAQ/STAR TREK
WHOMII - .Info file (WOW!)
WHOMIII -.Info file

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

MUSIC

2CYBER.MOD
AIRWOLF2.MOD
AIRWOLFT.MOD
ALIENAT.MOD
ALIENHAZ.MOD
ARMYBEAT.MOD
AUSTEXCD.MOD
BATMAN2.MOD
BEYOND.MOD
BEYOND20.MOD
BEYONDAG.MOD
BEYONDBE.MOD
BEYONDFO.MOD
BEYONDMU.MOD
BEYONDYO.MOD
CABAL.MOD ... Yes, very sci-fi.. Ripped from a game?
COMMAND.MOD
COMMANDO.MOD
CRUEL.MOD
CYBER.MOD
CYBERNOD.MOD
CYBERNOT.MOD
CYBERRID.MOD
CYBERTIT.MOD
CYBERTON.MOD
CYBERTRO.MOD
CYBERZON.MOD
CYBEXERK.MOD
CYBRNOID.MOD ... See Cabal.mod
DARK.MOD
DARKMOON.MOD
DAWN.MOD
EVILBEAT.MOD
FABEL.MOD
GALACT2.MOD
GALAXYII.MOD
GALAXYT.MOD
GHOSTBUS.MOD
HUBBARD.MOD
INGAME.MOD known as DASBOOT2.MOD
INGAME1.MOD
INNERSPA.MOD
INSANITY.MOD
KICKSTAR.MOD
LASER1.MOD
LASER2.MOD
LEDSTORM.MOD
LIGHT2.MOD
LIGHTYEA.MOD
LOSTTIME.MOD
LUSH123.MOD
MANDFORC.MOD
MAX_HEAD.MOD
MILKYWAY.MOD
MILLENIU.MOD
NOVA.MOD
ODYSS6.MOD
ODYSSE3.MOD
ODYSSEE1.MOD
ODYSSEE2.MOD
ODYSSEE3.MOD
ODYSSEY4.MOD
OXEGENE2.MOD
PANTHER.MOD
PARALLAX.MOD
PLANET.MOD
POWERDRI.MOD
POWEREM2.MOD
README
SPACE.MOD
SPACE2.MOD
SPACEBAL.MOD.. Hmm, ripped from a Spaceballs demo. Sci fi?!
SPACECAD.MOD
SPACECON.MOD
SPACECRU.MOD
SPACEDEB.MOD - identical to SPACE_DE.MOD
SPACEDEL.MOD
SPACEHEA.MOD
SPACEHEM.MOD
SPACEJOU.MOD
SPACEJUN.MOD
SPACELOV.MOD
SPACEMIX.MOD
SPACEMUZ.MOD
SPACESAD.MOD
SPACESON.MOD
SPACETRA.MOD
SPACETRP.MOD
SPACEVOY.MOD
SPACEWAL.MOD
SPACEWEA.MOD
SPACIG.MOD
SPAFLI.MOD
SWIV.MOD... See CABAL.MOD
TERMIN8.MOD called TER.MOD on Sci-Fi 1

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

SAMPLES

README.TXT


Note:- For some obscure reason, the samples are now only in
       Amiga IFF format in the subject directories while
       WAV formats have been lumped together in separate
       directories called WAVS1 and WAVS2 , thus making it
       more difficult for PC users to use the subject dirs,
       and more difficult for Amiga users to use the WAVS
       dirs... What was wrong with the dual-format idea in
       Sci-Fi #1????


2001      - No new files
ALIENS    - No new files
BLADERUN  - No New files & EATTHIS.SND still in wrong area (ALIENS 
dir)
CLOSEENC  - No new files
COMICAL   - No new files
DEMOLISH  - No new files
DRWHO     - No new files (ENTRE.SND still in wrong area)
MISC      - No new files.. Mistakes include:-

 1.SND is from Robocop, similar to "ROBOCOP.SND" in ROBOCOP Dir
 AIRLOCK.SND is corrupt at end
 BECREAT.SND is Star Trek : Voyager + snip of Generations
 BIGGUN12&3 - some warning of bad language?
 CITIZEN.SND is from Demolition Man (Dir DEMOLISH)
 CYBERNET.SND is from Terminator (Dir Termn8or)
 FINED.SND is from Demolition Man (Dir DEMOLISH)
 GREETS.SMD is from Demolition Man (Dir DEMOLISH)
 LIVE1.SND - Bad language
 MDK.SND is from Demolition Man (Dir DEMOLISH)
 MOTOR.SND is from Terminator 2 (Dir TERMN8OR)
 MUSIC.SND is from Terminator 2 (Dir Termn8or)
 PHOTON.SND is from Star Trek
 QUACK.SND is from Star Trek : Voyager (and it's QUARK)
 SAPD.SND is from Demolition Man (Dir DEMOLISH)
 WARP2.SND is from Star Trek : Voyager
 WHATTHE.SND is from Robocop II (Dir ROBOCOP)
 YAK.SND is from Star Trek : Voyager

ROBOCOP -   No new files
STAR TREK - No new files. Mistakes include:-

 ALERT.SND & GQ.SND are identical
 COMPUTE.SND is still corrupt
 DEADJIM2.SND is totally unusable (static)
 HAVENT.SND is corrupt
 JOAN.SND is corrupt
 MCCOY2.SND & MCCOY5.SND are identical
 MCCOY.SND & MCCOY4.SND are identical
 ROGER.SND is in the wrong area (dir MISC)
 SOUNDx1.SND is in the wrong area (dir MISC)
 SOUND11.SND & SOUNDX11.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND2.SND & SOUNDX2.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND3.SND & SOUNDX3.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND4.SND & SOUNDX4.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND5.SND & SOUNDX5.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND6.SND & SOUNDX6.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND7.SND & SOUNDX7.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND8.SND & SOUNDX8.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND9.SND & SOUNDX9.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND10.SND & SOUNDX10.SND are identical
 SOUND11.SND & SOUNDX11.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUND12.SND & SOUNDX12.SND identical & in wrong dir (MISC)
 SOUNDx13.SND is an IFF picture [images/startrek]
 SPOCK2.SND & SPOCK9.SND are identical
 SPOCK3.SND & SCAN.SND are the same
 THEME2.SND & TREK2.SND are identical
 TREK42.SND is corrupt
 TREKORG.SND is corrupt
 TREKTNG.SND is corrupt
 USERGRP.SND is just a Powerpacked text file

It would have been nice to have the Trek samples split up into
their different categories (Classic, TNG, DS9, Voyager).

STARWARS  - No new files. Mistake:-

 C3PO.SND is actually K9 from Doctor Who


TERMN8OR  - No new files.

Directory "wavs1" on Saturday 08-Jun-96
ATTACK.WAV                 38500 
AWESOME.WAV                23012 
AWKWARD.WAV                64642 
BASH.WAV                   51732 
BEAM.WAV                   22998 Star Trek
BEAM2.WAV                   2012 CORRUPT
COMPUTE.WAV                27404 
COMPUTER.WAV                9728 Star Trek
DICKWAD.WAV                12483 Star Trek
DOCTOR1.WAV                39322 Star Trek
DOCTOR2.WAV                21416 Star Trek
DOCTOR3.WAV                34798 Star Trek
DOCTOR4.WAV                48508 Star Trek
DOCTOR5.WAV                19912 SAME AS DOCTOR5.SND IS STARTREK DIR
ENG2BRID.WAV               49379 Star Trek
ENGAGE.WAV                 17720 Star Trek
ENGAGE2.WAV                25425 Star Trek
ENGAGE3.WAV                46134 Star Trek
ENGAGSEQ.WAV               43549 Star Trek
ENGALRT.WAV                22048 Star Trek
ENGCMPON.WAV               30738 Star Trek
ENGCOMP1.WAV              235290 Star Trek
ENGSCROL.WAV               20608 Star Trek
ENTERWHN.WAV               52560 Star Trek
ERROR.WAV                  11404 2001
EXPLAIN.WAV                68594 Star Trek
F-0.WAV                     6044 
F-1.WAV                     6044 
F-2.WAV                     4844 
F-3.WAV                     4844 
F-4.WAV                     4844 
F-5.WAV                     7244 
F-6.WAV                     7244 
F-7.WAV                     6044 
F-8.WAV                     4844 
F-9.WAV                     6044 
F-ANYKEY.WAV               14444 
F-HELLO.WAV                 6044 
FAILURE.WAV                 8654 Star Trek/Misc
FIRE.WAV                    4689 Star Trek
FIREPHAZ.WAV               12548 Star Trek
GALAXY.WAV                353536 
GDDY2DIE.WAV               60585 Star Trek
GENQTRS.WAV                45263 Star Trek
GRAVIT.WAV                 28588 Star Trek
HAIL2.WAV                  40770 Star Trek
HAND.WAV                   39468 Star Trek
HEALTHY.WAV                 9771 Star Trek
HELIVE.WAV                 19920 Star Trek
HES_DEAD.WAV               31646 OK version of DEADJIM2.SND (TREK Dir)
HFREQOPN.WAV               56492 Star Trek
HFREQSND.WAV               17002 Star Trek
HIHAL.WAV                  79687 2001
HYPO.WAV                    4144 
KABOOM.WAV                 56156 
KIRKHERE.WAV               14576 Star Trek
KLAXON1.WAV                10764 Same as StarTrek/Klaxon.SND
KLAXON2.WAV                60816 Same as StarTrek/Klaxon.SND (Looped)
LIGHT.WAV                  39069 Star Trek
LOGIC.WAV                  98324 Same as StarTrek/Spock1.SND
MAINJUNC.WAV               18114 Star Trek
MARVIN1.WAV                31242 Same as Misc/Depress.snd
MARVIN2.WAV                38162 
MARVIN3.WAV                22198 
MARVIN4.WAV                19834 
MARVIN5.WAV                42778 
MCCOY.WAV                  17952 Star Trek
MEDIMPOS.WAV               15894 Star Trek
MIND.WAV                   42596 2001
ONLY2.WAV                  12502 
PHAZOR1.WAV                 8866 Star Trek (Similar to Misc/Photon.snd)
PHOTTORP.WAV               29346 Star Trek
PITFOR.WAV                 39212 Star Trek
POWERL.WAV                 26412 Star Trek
POWTOAST.WAV               42075 
PROGRESS.WAV               28828 
PROVERB.WAV                51584 Star Trek
PURPOS.WAV                 12249 
README.TXT                   231 
ROUTEALL.WAV               63560 Star Trek
RUBBER.WAV                440938 You call this SCI FI?!?!?
SCOTTY.WAV                 24674 Same as POWERL.WAV
SFX1.WAV                   21746 
SFX2.WAV                   21342 
SFX3.WAV                   20896 
SIREN.WAV                  32056 
SITU.WAV                   14380 
SOM.WAV                    10032 
SPOCKD.WAV                 24620 Same as MCCOY.WAV
SPOCKVIE.WAV               43052 Star Trek
SPOOKLA1.WAV               25872 
ST-SEX.WAV                 39741 Star Trek
ST-TNG.WAV                 76410 Star Trek
SUBETHA.WAV                64700 
SW1USEF.WAV                34076 
T2DOWN.WAV                 90156 Terminator II
T2PLEASE.WAV              196652 Terminator II
T2THEME.WAV               198110 Corrupt
TOHUMAN2.WAV               61488 2001
TRANENER.WAV               20589 Star Trek
TRANSP1.WAV                19734 Same as Tranener.wav
TREKDOOR.WAV               11052 Same as Startrek/Doors.snd
TRIBBLE4.WAV               45575 Star Trek
TRIBBLE6.WAV               26370 Star Trek
TZSHORT.WAV                17692 
UFO.WAV                   811282 Just sounds like lift Muzack!
VIEWER.WAV                 43366 Star Trek
VISTA.WAV                  27688 Improved TERMN8OR/ASTALAV.SND
VOLCWAV.WAV               305426 Science FACT?
VULCAN.WAV                 16850 Same as STARTREK/VULCAN.SND
WARN1.WAV                  37950 
WARN2.WAV                  96857 
WHISTLE.WAV                15404 Star Trek
WHYHERE.WAV                24604 
WRONG.WAV                  55572 


Directory "wavs2" on Saturday 08-
BABY.WAV                   28125 Similar to WAVS1/VISTA.WAV
BABY1.WAV                  90919 Similar to WAVS1/VISTA.WAV
BACKOFFM.WAV               21012 
BARF.WAV                   16748 This is sci fi?!
BARK.WAV                    8412 This is sci fi?!
BARK2_44.WAV               51344 This is sci fi?!
BEAM.WAV                   22998 Identical to WAVS1/BEAM.WAV
BEBACK.WAV                 30764 Terminator II
BEEP1.WAV                  10432 Star Trek
BELCH.WAV                  16672 This is sci fi?!
BELONG.WAV                 47604 This is sci fi?!
BETTER.WAV                 27458 This is sci fi?!
BIGGUN.WAV                 40530 
BIKEHORN.WAV                3814 This is sci fi?!
CAGNEY.WAV                 11074 This is sci fi?!
CAMRA.WAV                  43598 This is sci fi?!
CAPKANG.WAV               185289 This is sci fi?!
CARHORN.WAV                45100 This is sci fi?!
CASHREG.WAV                23090 This is sci fi?!
CHANOPEN.WAV               16703 Star Trek
CHARGE.WAV                 40628 This is sci fi?!
CHICKEN.WAV                24865 
CHILL1.WAV                 11881 Terminator II
CHILL2.WAV                 25030 Terminator II
CHILLOUT.WAV               38956 Same as CHILL2.WAV
CHIMES.WAV                 15920 From Microsoft Windows!!
CHORD.WAV                  24982 From Microsoft Windows!!
CLARIC.WAV                 15661 Silence Of The Lambs
COMCATR1.WAV               18868 Star Trek
COMCATR2.WAV               13286 Star Trek
COMM.WAV                    4702 Similar to BEEP1.WAV
COMMUNIC.WAV               12646 Similar to BEEP1.WAV
COMP1.WAV                  20630 
COMP10.WAV                 51986 Star Trek
DAMN.WAV                   22322 This is sci fi?!
DATALATR.WAV               68594 Star Trek
DEADJIM.WAV                10597 Star Trek
DEMOLISH.WAV               25356 
DEPRESS.WAV                35270 Similar to WAVS1/MARVIN1.WAV
DERROR.WAV                 34318 From Microsoft Windows!!
DICKWAD.WAV                12483 Terminator II
DING.WAV                   11598 From Microsoft Windows!!
DINGO.WAV                  20412 Hitch Hikers Guide
DOCTOR1.WAV                39322 Identical to WAVS1/DOCTOR1.WAV
DOCTOR2.WAV                21416 Identical to WAVS1/DOCTOR2.WAV
DOCTOR3.WAV                34798 Identical to WAVS1/DOCTOR3.WAV
DOCTOR4.WAV                48508 Identical to WAVS1/DOCTOR4.WAV
DOCTOR5.WAV                19912 Identical to WAVS1/DOCTOR5.WAV
DOESNOTC.WAV               11224 
DOGBARK.WAV                12810 This is sci fi?!
DOINK.WAV                   5712 
DONE.WAV                   19740 
DONTLIKE.WAV               24620 
DONTTHNK.WAV               14964 
DOOM.WAV                   49964 
DOOR.WAV                    7110 Star Trek
DOORBELL.WAV               20460 Star Trek
DOORBL2.WAV                41122 Star Trek (Similar to DOORBELL.WAV)
DOORNOCK.WAV                8492 This is sci fi?!
DOOROPEN.WAV               27104 This is sci fi?!
DOORS1.WAV                 94820 Star Trek
DOORSLID.WAV               22194 Star Trek
DOWN.WAV                   35910 This is sci fi?!
DROOPY.WAV                 13676 
DROPIMP2.WAV               79993 Star Trek
DRSTUPID.WAV               37932 
DRUM.WAV                   41070 This is sci fi?!
DRUM1.WAV                  47148 This is sci fi?!
EARLGREY.WAV               65998 Star Trek
ECHO1.WAV                  16288 This is sci fi?!
ELGUITAR.WAV               15726 This is sci fi?!
EVRYTHIN.WAV               32414 This is sci fi?!
FANFARE.WAV                44070 This is sci fi?!
FELTLIKE.WAV               65284 Star Trek
FLAGUP.WAV                  9913 
FLYBY.WAV                  65998 Star Trek
FOGHORN.WAV                78347 
FOODSYNT.WAV               46990 
FORCEFLD.WAV               79346 
FUNNY.WAV                  63661 Star Trek
GAMEOVER.WAV               12976 Aliens
GAS.WAV                     9384 This is sci fi?!
GIGGLE.WAV                 22716 This is sci fi?!
GLASBK.WAV                 26975 This is sci fi?!
GLASBREK.WAV               35624 This is sci fi?!
GLASS.WAV                  14864 This is sci fi?!
GLASS1.WAV                 37064 This is sci fi?!
GLASS2.WAV                 25408 This is sci fi?!
GLASS3.WAV                 45100 This is sci fi?!
GLASSBRK.WAV                6530 This is sci fi?!
GONG.WAV                   42072 This is sci fi?!
GOODMO.WAV                 53128 This is sci fi?! Good Morning Vietnam
GOODMO1.WAV                79148 The Simpsons. This is sci fi?!
GOODMRNG.WAV                7968 This is sci fi?!
GOYELLOW.WAV                7193 Star Trek
GRENADE.WAV                95924 This is sci fi?!
GUN1.WAV                   16428 This is sci fi?!
GUN2.WAV                   20524 This is sci fi?!
GUNFIGHT.WAV               24246 This is sci fi?!
GUNSHOT.WAV                 8350 This is sci fi?!
HALT.WAV                   36696 Star Trek
HAN.WAV                    20178 Star Wars
HANDSAW.WAV                22768 This is sci fi?!
HAPPYJOY.WAV               78892 Ren & Stimpy
HARDER.WAV                 12332 
HBEAT1.WAV                  5664 Star Trek
HBEAT2.WAV                 36144 Star Trek
HELLO-O.WAV                19710 
HELMET.WAV                 37774 
HIMAN.WAV                   5445 The Simpsons. This is sci fi?!
HITME.WAV                  23276 
HI_THERE.WAV               65178 
HOMERD.WAV                  6030 The Simpsons. This is sci fi?!
HORSE.WAV                  22026 
HREADY.WAV                 19590 Star Trek
JAMES.WAV                  11406 James Brown. This is sci fi?!
JAWHARP.WAV                31276 
JUMP.WAV                   70806 
JURYRIG.WAV                15044 Star Trek
LAUGH1.WAV                 22830 
LAUGH2.WAV                 21364 
LAUGH3.WAV                 24230 
LTSPARTY.WAV               17206 Let's Party! This is sci fi?!
M-BYE.WAV                  12044 
MACHIN22.WAV               46942 
MANOVER.WAV                32332 Falling overboard. This is sci fi?!
MASTER.WAV                 32606 
MED-LARK.WAV               72038 This is sci fi?!
MEDSCAN1.WAV                8864 Star Trek
MEDSCAN2.WAV               30288 Star Trek
MF-THINK.WAV               25874 
MG1.WAV                    11074 
MIGHTY.WAV                 83470 Mighty Mouse
MKMYDY.WAV                 34184 This is sci fi?!
MONEY1.WAV                 39724 This is sci fi?!
MONEY3.WAV                 65580 This is sci fi?!
MONEY5.WAV                 20268 This is sci fi?!
MONKEY.WAV                 15369 
MWJAM.WAV                  23989 "Jam".. This is sci fi?!
MYADVICE.WAV               46944 
NEVERMND.WAV               16058 
NOPROB.WAV                  8774 Terminator II
NOSEPICK.WAV               46577 
NOT.WAV                    14715 
NOWAY.WAV                  34952 
NOWHERES.WAV               26700 
NYUKNYUK.WAV               41804 
OH.WAV                     11296 
OHJOY.WAV                  16832 
OOOHHH.WAV                 21770 
ORSONLA1.WAV               24668 
OUCH.WAV                    5434 
PARDON.WAV                 13438 
PENAL.WAV                  26010 
PEPSI.WAV                  62836 Back To The Future(?)
PERMIS.WAV                  9846 Star Trek
PHONERNG.WAV               53290 This is sci fi?!
PILEDRIV.WAV               23737 This is sci fi?!
PINKPAN.WAV                87914 
PLANE1.WAV                 24618 This is sci fi?!
PLANE2.WAV                 86216 This is sci fi?!
PLAY.WAV                    8864 
POP.WAV                     4486 
PROGRESS.WAV               28828 
PROTOPLM.WAV               49950 
RED.WAV                    11368 Star Trek TNG
REN.WAV                    43864 
ROCKYH01.WAV               92998 This is sci fi?!
RODNEY.WAV                 37954 This is sci fi?!
RODNEY3.WAV                56302 This is sci fi?!
SCRATCH.WAV                54372 This is sci fi?!
SEALION.WAV                 3246 This is sci fi?!
SFX1.WAV                   21746 
SFX2.WAV                   21342 
SFX3.WAV                   20896 
SHIPHIT.WAV                43464 
SHORT.WAV                  35244 
SHORTS.WAV                 12350 Simpsons. This is sci fi?!
SOUND1.WAV                 78062 
SOYTANLY.WAV               22128 
SPAM.WAV                   67486 Monty Python. This is sci fi?!
SPEED.WAV                  13250 
SPOOKLA1.WAV               25872 Identical to WAVS1/SPOOKLA1.WAV
STBUT4.WAV                  4456 Star Trek
STBUTN1.WAV                 5560 Star Trek
STBUTN2.WAV                 2250 Star Trek
STBUTN3.WAV                 5560 Star Trek
STFIGHT1.WAV               16172 Street Fighter II
STFIGHT2.WAV               16268 Street Fighter II
STFIGHT3.WAV               14468 Street Fighter II
STFIGHT4.WAV               10844 Street Fighter II
STIMPY.WAV                 16906 
STING.WAV                  22688 This is sci fi?!
STINKY.WAV                 31220 This is sci fi?!
STRIKE.WAV                 53292 This is sci fi?!
SWICHOFF.WAV               27730 This is sci fi?!
SWINE.WAV                  54505 This is sci fi?!
TEMP.WAV                   37064 This is sci fi?!
THANKS.WAV                 10120 This is sci fi?!
THERE.WAV                  44538 This is sci fi?!
TICKTOCK.WAV               21398 This is sci fi?!
TOMLIN.WAV                 34906 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP0.WAV                 3288 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP1.WAV                 5126 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP2.WAV                 6030 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP3.WAV                 3858 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP4.WAV                 4378 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP5.WAV                 2656 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP6.WAV                 3070 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP7.WAV                 3014 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP8.WAV                 2910 This is sci fi?!
TPBEEP9.WAV                 3032 This is sci fi?!
TPBUSY.WAV                 51314 This is sci fi?!
TPERROR.WAV                22484 This is sci fi?!
TPRINGT.WAV                50762 This is sci fi?!
TPTONE.WAV                 29756 This is sci fi?!
TRAIN.WAV                  34064 This is sci fi?!
TRASH.WAV                  45868 Star Trek
TRIB_HAP.WAV               84596 Star Trek
TRIB_MAD.WAV               27344 Star Trek
TRIXWAVE.WAV               21316 
UH-OH-.WAV                 17903 
UNWISE.WAV                 23468 Star Trek
VACATION.WAV               19932 Terminator II
VAULT.WAV                  17780 
WHALES.WAV                 43501 Star Trek
WHATISIT.WAV               22314 
WHEE.WAV                   22810 
WIGGLE.WAV                 11588 
WILD5.WAV                  96508 
WOLFHOWL.WAV               40354 
WOOW1.WAV                  11180 
WORFHOOD.WAV               77286 Star Trek
WORKING.WAV                50752 Star Trek
WWEXSQZ.WAV                15758 
WWMENTAL.WAV               22124 
WWPARDON.WAV               69076 
WWSCHWNG.WAV               19830 


TOOLS

AMIGA/sox.txt
AMIGA/sox_000
DOS/VOC2WAV
DOS/VOC_TOOL
WINDOWS/000FILES.TXT
WINDOWS/10OFBEST
WINDOWS/AAPLAY
WINDOWS/AMFJBOX
WINDOWS/MOD4WIN
WINDOWS/PSP3/PSP1.CMP
WINDOWS/WAVTOOLS
WINDOWS/WINFLIC


DISK 2
======

Disk 2 of Sci Fi Sensations #1 and #2 are not just slightly similar, they
are IDENTICAL.  I did a file comparison, a directory comparison, and then
when I still wasn't convinced, I created a filelist for both CD's (using
LIST ALL), then used a file compare which compares two files of equal
length (which these were incidentally), and there were NO differences at
all..

*** END OF CD COMPARISONS ***

So, what does all this mean?  Is Sci-Fi Sensations an upgrade disk as it
claims on the CD..  I'd have to say no.

Upgrade implies getting a lot of new files.  As it stands you only gain
about 90 MODS, the quality of which can only be described as laughable. 

Oh, you do get some WAV samples, most of which are of similarly poor
quality as the MODs.  Do either have ANYTHING to do with Sci-Fi?  As a
rule, no.  I'm sorry but simply because the MODs have the word SPACE in
them doesn't count (eg.  a MOD ripped from a SPACEballs demo), and if the
compiler of this CD can REALLY stand there and tell us that (poor quality)
samples of things like car horns, belches and even the built-in samples
from Microsoft Windows have anything to do with Science Fiction, then
he/she shouldn't be compiling Sci-Fi, they should be WRITING it!

While on the subject of samples, the organisation can be classed quite
neatly as a joke.  Some samples are saved off as Amiga IFF's, and split
into categories (though I use this term in its broadest possible context),
while a whole batch of others are dumped without thought into "WAVS1" and
"WAVS2".  The result is that Amiga owners can't use the samples in the WAVs
drawers without a converter, and PC users face the same problem vice-versa.
@endnode
@node REVIEW2 "Review: Final Writer 5"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                           Final Writer 5 Review
                            By: @{" William Near " link WILLIAM}
===========================================================================

     Well, here we are again with another update to Final Writer by
Softwood.  The beta of Final Writer that I received looks promising and
sports many improvements and additions to an already topnotch word
processor.

     Final Writer 5 comes on three disks and is as easy to install as
previous versions due to the wise use of the Commodore Installer.  Upon
first glance, Final Writer 5 looks very much the same as Final Writer 4,
but there's more power lurking under the surface. 

SO WHAT'S NEW AND IMPROVED ANYWAY?

     I'm glad you asked!  While I'm not going to cover every detail of the
changes to Final Writer, I will describe the biggest changes and
improvements.  Of course, this is a purely subjective thing -- what may be
important to me might be of little to no interest to you.  I'll try to
cover as many points as space will allow, though.

     One word: TABLES!  Yes, you read that right.  Table support is now
included in Final Writer.  No more of those ARexx hacks which were floating
around on the Aminet, no matter how good they were.  Tables can be created
and modified from a requester in a variety of ways.  You have control over:
grid line appearance, color of backgrounds in cell regions, text flow
around tables, multiple paragraphs in each cell, line thickness and color,
and data formatting for groups of cells within a table.  Even the type
specs and paragraph options work within tables.  This feature is most
certainly one of the biggest additions to Final Writer thus far.

     In the font's department there is now a menu choice for direct access
to the font requester.  That means no more fumbling through other
requesters just to select a different font.  Preloading fonts is now
possible as well.  Just select which fonts you'd like to load upon starting
Final Writer or creating a new document and they will appear in the font
list. 

     ASL (Amiga Standard Library) requesters are now an option within Final
Writer.  You can opt to use these requesters, the standard Final Writer
requesters, or a combination of the two for selecting files or fonts to
open.  ASL requesters are great because you can resize and position them
any way you desire, type the path name directly in the requester, use the
cursor keys for navigation, and type the first letter of a filename or font
and have the requester jump directly to the first entry that matches.

     Final Writer now incorporates an Auto Correct feature.  Auto Correct
can be used to substitute one set of letters for another.  For instance,
you could set up an Auto Correct item that would replace each occurrence of
"cm" with the word "Commodore".  This would save you the effort of having
to type repetitive words, especially long ones, over and over throughout
your document.  You could also set up an Auto Correct item that will
correct your most mistyped words in a document.  Let's say that you always
type the word "foriegn" in your documents, you could set an item up that
will automatically spell the word as "foreign".  Auto Correct can even
automatically capitalize the first letter in a new sentence and eliminate
double capitals within a sentence.

     Section click-tabs can now be displayed without also having to display
page number click-tabs.  This can be very useful when jumping from section
to section and for preserving screen real estate by eliminating the page
number click-tabs on the current document.  Of course, the other click-tab
options are still available.

     Final Writer's custom screen is now a public screen.  This enables
other programs or applications to open their screens on the Final Writer
screen.  ARexx programmers should find this to be especially good news.

     An HTML (HyperText Markup Language) save option has been added too!
Now you can create a World Wide Web page with relative ease.  Just type in
the text that you desire and import any graphics you'd like into the
document.  Save the new document with the HTML option and Final Writer will
write the appropriate code for you to use!  I tested it out and it seems to
work fine.  The only thing I wish it could do is create text links to other
pages of your document.  It's a nice addition that goes a long way towards
helping you set up your initial HTML document.

     Final Writer now allows you to save a specific set of preferences for
future use.  You can select any predefined preferences from a menu choice
and they will be loaded and made active.  This can be handy if you like to
have your toolbar in a certain position while creating HTML pages and you'd
like it in another position for general writing.  This is a very simplified
example, but you get the idea.  Anything you want to adjust and save can be
easily accomplished.

     Finally, Rich Text Format (RTF) support is here!  This is a method
used by many word processors on differing platforms to save a document and
import it into another package with a minimum of formatting loss.  Now you
can easily take your Final Writer documents to and from work with ease.

     Sections within your document can now be easily rearranged.  No longer
do you have to use the clunky cut and paste method.  Now you can just drag
the section names from within a requester to whatever position you'd like
them to appear in your document.

     Documents can now be created with a template.  If you open an existing
document with the New From Template menu choice, Final Writer will update
all time and date insertions in the document and rename it as Untitled.
This will prevent you from saving over top of the original document when
making revisions.  This has happened to me in the past while writing
reviews for Amiga Report.  You have the Auto Save feature set and the next
thing you know you've just overwritten your original document that you were
modifying!  This won't happen any more.

     The Zoom options have been moved into a direct pulldown menu choice. 
Now it is much faster to change the magnification of your document to one
of the eight predefined choices.  Of course, you can still set the
magnification manually from the requester as in past versions of Final
Writer.

     Great news for Workbench 3.x users -- Final Writer now supports
Datatypes for importing any kind of graphic into your documents. 

     The grammar checker has been updated to the latest version too.

     Floating palettes are now available for the Tool, Button, and Style
bars.  The Button and Style palettes are resizable, while the Tool palette
is not.


ALL THIS AND WINDOWS TOO.

     Softwood has also released a version of Final Writer for the
Windows-based machines.  Now you can use Final Writer on your Windows and
Workbench systems.  The files are completely portable between both versions
and a special deal has been offered by Softwood to buy them both at the
same time.

     I would like to add that this in no way means that Softwood is
defecting to the enemy.  They are just trying to open up their product on
other platforms and have assured us that the Amiga version's development
will continue into the foreseeable future.  So don't worry!


WISH LIST

     I wish that there was an insert file option in Final Writer.  I really
hate having to open a second document and then cut and paste the
information into my working document.  I would like to see a mail merge to
file option too, instead of having to wait endlessly while Final Writer
generates each page of a mail merge.  I could generate the merged file and
print it later.  A page preview feature would also be nice.  Sure, I can
set the Zoom to 55% or so, but it doesn't appear on its own screen.
Finally, I'd like to be able to create links on the HTML pages, but this
first effort in this area by Softwood is still pretty good.


SUMMARY

     Once again, Softwood has done a great job of revising an already
powerful word processor for the Amiga.  Woody and the gang should be
commended for sticking by the Amiga throughout the thick and thin times of
this platform's sorted history.  So, go out and buy the upgrade or buy
Final Writer for the first time -- you won't be sorry.
@endnode
@node REVIEW3 "Review: Total Football"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                          Review: Total Football
                            By: @{" Ken Anderson " link KEN}
===========================================================================

Warning: this review contains no silly footballing references like "sick as
a parrot" or "a game of two halves".

A timely release from Domark, as the European Championships kick off (arf)
in Britain.  Hopefully it won't be too long before we hear more about the
eagerly awaited Championship Manager 2 ...

For all you puzzled Americans, "football" in this title is soccer - real
football.  None of that shoulder-pads-and-quarter-ton-of-ironwork lark for
us - this is the game of kings.  Kicking an inflated cow's bladder around a
muddy field with the aim of putting the ball between two sticks may seem
like an odd idea for a game, but it's one that's caught on over the years.

Up until now, the undisputed champion of footy games has been Sensible
Soccer.   Since wrenching the league cup from Kick Off 2, Sensi has been
the game that the others have failed to beat.  TF isn't better than Sensi,
but them again it doesn't try to be.

Rather than the almost-top-down view of Sensi, TF takes the FIFA-style
isometric display.  The players move with an alleged 1,700 frames of
animation, and very nicely they move too.  When a player is fouled, he gets
up and hobbles away - pitifully or heroically, depending on whether he's
one of your guys.  Better than this is the display put on when your team
scores - you can make him race around the pitch, summersaulting, punching
the air and making obscene sexual gestures to the crowd.

The control system does take a little getting used to.  Pressing the
joystick button once performs a pass to your nearest player.  Pressing it
twice in quick succession results in a mid-strength kick, with the addition
of after-touch, whilst triple-clicking punts the ball up the field in the
general direction your player is facing.  This does take a bit of getting
used to, especially as the game system has to wait to determine how many
clicks you're going to make - there's a slight lag between pressing the
button for a pass and the ball actually leaving your feet.  This can lead
to screams of frustration from untrained rival human opponents.  Things are
improved with a two-button joystick, where the buttons are used
independently to control the kicking power.  In fact, two-button
controllers (which no serious Amiga games should be without) will allow a
couple of extra moves which single-buttoners can't do.

Away from the actual gameplay, there's the usual plethora of options -
length of match, pitch type, team selection, and so on.  Playing against
the computer is fine for practice, but - like most things in life - it's
more fun with another person.  In fact, invite a few chums around, set up a
league or a championship competition, and you can re-enact the whole of
Euro 96 in front of your monitor.  Who knows - Scotland might even win in
this one.  At the end of each half, statistics are displayed for the
previous session - possession, territory, corners and fouls.  Perfect for
settling those "I played better than you" arguments.

A few minor niggles: the game isn't HD installable - not a major problem,
as the game uses all available memory to keep disk swaps at a minimum, but
an irritating omission.  Also, if player one chooses a two-button joystick,
player two must use a two-button device too ...  annoying if you only have
one joypad.

However, these are tiny flaws.  It's a fast, attractive game that is
surprisingly addictive - even after the umpteenth 3-0 defeat, you'll still
be back for more.  Add a few friends, and you'll be over the moon, Brian
...  oh dammit.

Pros: Plays like a dream, and is almost as much fun to watch as to take
part - just like real football.

Cons: Computer-controlled goalies are too computer-controlled.  Will get
boring without human opponents.
@endnode
@node REVIEW4 "Review: XP8"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                                Review: XP8
                            By: @{" Ken Anderson " link KEN}
===========================================================================

You know how it is - sometimes you just want to sit down in front of your
computer and not really think about what you're doing.  The marketing
people call it "visual bubble-gum", but marketing people would call a spade
a manually- operated earth-excavation device if they though that people
would pay an extra 25% for it.  Enter XP8, from the independent WeatherMine
Software.  Perfect for those times when mindlessly killing a few aliens
will soothe all those troubles away.

The plot is the usual shoot'em'up nonsense - rogue satellite drifts into
your space, you send back a ship to say "hello", and before you know it,
it's all-out war, and of course it's down to you to save the day.  What it
boils down to is firing small groups of pixels at much larger groups of
pixels, in the hope of credible score.

Shipping on four disks, XP8 installs nicely onto the hard disk, and after a
few static intro screens to recap the plot, it's time to set the options
and get blasting.

Ten seconds after choosing "start", you'll more than likely be thinking
something along the lines of "Blimey, this looks like Stardust".  If you
haven't heard of Stardust, you've obviously been hiding somewhere remote
for the last couple of years.  Stardust was basically the old Atari classic
Asteroids, given the full Amiga treatment, with stunning ray-traced
graphics and over-the-top presentation.

XP8 doesn't look as good as Stardust, but in places it comes damn close.
The first level is a bit tame, with kamikaze lines of aliens flooding down
the screen to be dispatched with your peashooter of a laser.  Destroying
aliens reaps the reward of power-ups - power-up your weapon, increase your
shields - the standard stuff.  As you move through the levels, more weapons
make themselves available.

Level two hots things up a bit, adding ground-based enemies.  By this time,
the game's more like Banshee, with tall buildings to crash into.  It's not
always clear exactly what is and isn't to be avoided, but you learn
quickly.  By the fourth level, you daren't blink for fear of missing
something that could spell death.  Passcodes are provided at the end of
each level, which helps ...  but most of the levels are *very* big.

And?  That's about it.  Looks smashing, though.  Just about everything is
ray-traced; nice shiny aliens get shot by shiny bullets, which causes them
to explode in shiny explosions.  The whole thing runs at 50 frames per
second - resulting in a silky- smooth scroller, and with 5 large levels to
fight through, a lot of work has gone into making this game look good.

An unusual idea is the customise option - elements of the game can be made
easier - or tougher - at your own discretion.  Whether you'll want to use
these options until you've completed the game "normally" is up to you...

So it's the gameplay of Banshee with the graphics of Stardust.  If you want
an advert for just how good an Amiga game can look, buy this.  If you loved
Banshee or Stardust, buy this.  If you love a good old-fashioned blast, buy
this.  In fact, unless you don't own a joystick and can't stand any kind of
game when you have to stay awake, buy this.  At only 20UKP, it's a bargain.

(XP8 is currently AGA only.  An ECS version was scheduled for the end of
May - hopefully we'll have more news in the next issue.)

XP8 can be ordered from: WeatherMine Software, 50 Taleworth Road, Ashtead,
Surrey KT21 2PY, UK.  Cheques/IMO/PO for 19.99UKP to WeatherMine Software.

Pros: The best-looking Amiga game for some time.  Can be made more or less
challenging with the customisable options.

Cons: Not exactly a "deep" game, and so won't appeal to everyone.
@endnode
@node REVIEW5 "Review: Tek-Magik Accelerator"
@toc REVIEW

===========================================================================
                       Review: Tek-Magik Accelerator
  Antonios Karantze                             a.karantze@genie.geis.com
===========================================================================

The Writer   :  a.karantze@genie.geis.com, 100233,1452@compuserve.com

Product      :  Tek-Magik Accelerator Card (Available now)
Amiga Model  :  A1500 (UK), A2000, A2500 (US)
Type         :  68040 or 68060

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
System Used: A2000 rev 4.1, ECS chipset, Kickstart 3.1, Workbench 3.1, ICD
Flicker Free Video I (FFV), EMPLANT Deluxe, Picasso 2 (2mb RAM), Quantum
Pro 340mb, Quantum Trailblazer 850mb, Reno Portable CD-ROM drive, Iomega
ZIP drive, Supra 14.4LC modem, Philips SVGA monitor, Power Computing 1.76
HD Floppy, Cybergraphics v2.16
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The lost prince?  perhaps it is.  This card is one of the last projects
that GVP had on their drawing boards before they decided to call it a day
and implode.  Based on the highly desirable G-Force line of A2000
accelerators, these cards represent awesome power and one of the last
injections of life into that workhouse line of Amiga computers.

The first accelerator I ever purchased was an ICD AdSpeed, a 68000 running
at 14Mhz.  This was soon traded in on a CSA Derringer 030 card running at
25Mhz, which on my Amiga programs performed admirably, if a little slowly.
Ever since I installed a Picasso 2 card in my A2000 however, I longed for
more and more speed, and so I purchased the 68060 card (and drove the
receptionist at Power Computing nuts until it was released!)

I run multiple emulation systems, as readers who know me will attest, such
as EMPLANT {MACPRO and e586DX), Shapeshifter, and PC Task 3.1.  Whereas the
Amiga OS is a nifty runner, the MacOS and Windows3.1 are real resource
hogs.  Using these programs made for an interesting workout on the 060
processor.

The Card.

The card itself is a multi-layered A2000 type card (ie Big and Brutish)
that is very sturdy and well designed.  The 68060 sits in the top right
corner, a little sliver of silicon and graphite no more than 4cm square.  A
fan sits on top of it, although at 3.3v it certainly doesn't draw as much
power as the 68040 (5v).  An internal 50pin SCSI-2 connector runs along the
top of the card, and about half of the card's length is taken up with SIMM
sockets.  There is also an external SCSI-2 connector, but this is not the
standard 25-pin D-type found on other SCSI-1 cards.  It is a High Density
Fast connector, a square D-type 50-pin type.  These are more unusual but
are necessary for the SCSI standard to achieve the higher speeds that have
been touted for some years (remember the 10mb/s issue?).

There are four 72-pin industry standard sockets and four GVP 64-pin
sockets.  These sockets are wired to each other, meaning that you can't
fill all eight banks of the card.  For example, if you put a simm in the
first GVP socket you can't use the first 72pin socket, and so on.  Making
things slightly worse, if you use a double-sided PC simm (These have chips
on both sides of the chip), you use up two of the GVP sockets!.  This can
be confusing, and I found myself having to read through the manual two to
three times to figure this out.

Installation of the card is more involved.  Since I had the machine open, I
decided to take the opportunity to clean the motherboard of dust and other
little nasties before I installed the card.  I'm glad I did!  To put the
card into my V12 system required a lot of cable juggling and pressure
balancing.  The power cords coming from my A2000 power supply stick
straight into the card and put pressure on it.  After bending and moving I
relieved most of the pressure and felt more comfortable, anyway.

I made up new cables for my hard drives and floppy drives, and proceeded to
slowly rebuild the system from the ground up, a process that took just
under one hour.  Having spent a hell of a lot of money on the card, I was
not about to risk damaging something by rushing into installation, and I
would strongly recommend that others who purchase this or any other card
take their time.  It is well worth the effort!

The Processors

The card can take either the 68040 or 68060 chip, although the type of chip
available varies according to the dealer involved (see above).  Each
processor has it's own quirks regarding the type of SIMM you use as well. 
Current spec SIMMs run at either 70ns or 60ns, but there are many available
second hand that are 80ns or slower.  Avoid these like the plague!  not
only is their resell value low, they are bound to be old and not liked by
this card!

The 68040 will get by on 80ns SIMMs, but prefers faster ones.  The 68060
absolutely needs 70ns or faster, no exceptions.  Realistically, the speed
figures are very negligible, but as processors become faster they need
support chips that can keep up.  I have heard of Pentium 75's that have
spat up 70ns SIMMs only to work great on 60ns SIMMs, and P75's are'nt that
much faster than the 68060.

The Phoenix Rises

So how did the installation go?

Let's just say that when I first installed it, I was not impressed.

Workbench 3.1 is a great OS.  It has a few gaps in what is offered
(actually, there are a lot of gaps, but lets hope that Amiga Technologies
and Viscorp set about correcting that with WB 3.2 and WB4.0).  It is not
designed to deal with 68040 and 68060 processors very well, and needs all
manner of additional software installed before it will perform optimally.

In theory, all SCSI controllers should follow Commodore's Rigid Disk Block
(RDB) specifications.  That way, if you move an Amiga formatted Hard Disk
from one controller to another, it will boot the system with no trouble.

When I first booted the system, it would crash 100% when using the Hard
disk.  Booting from floppy worked fine, but I couldn't install the software
because the installer used the floppy drive as the boot drive, not the hard
drive.

What was found to be at fault was the SetPatch command in Workbench3.1. 
Unbelievable though it may sound, on removal of this command the system
fired up and loaded a very unstable workbench.  Unstable, because the
afore-mentioned support libraries had not been installed.  Installation of
the support software tidied things up 99% and from there the system worked
great...  almost (you'll see why soon).

The Performance

What a rush!

Sysinfo, that most reliable of speed testers (not), reports that my system
runs at 39.15 MIPS, 70x faster than my old A500 and 2x faster than an
A4000.  The Blizzard is reported to run at 37.15 MIPS (if you believe the
print advertising), and no records are available on the Wildfire card.

Sysinfo is not the most reliable benchmark program, and so I have included
the results from Sysspeed, an interesting program I found on the front of
an Amiga Computing magazine (thank you guys!)

SysSpeed V1.2  - TestResults
============================

Your System :    CPU: 68060   FPU: 68060     ChipSet: ECS   OS: 3.1

  A1k2_030  :    CPU: 68030   FPU: -----     ChipSet: AGA   OS: 3.0

  A2k_040c  :    CPU: 68040   FPU: 68040     ChipSet: OCS   OS: 3.0

  A4k_040   :    CPU: 68040   FPU: 68040     ChipSet: AGA   OS: 3.1

  A4k_060C  :    CPU: 68060   FPU: 68060     ChipSet: AGA   OS: 3.1

CompareBase :    You          Compare :    A4k_040

+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  Test       |   You   | A1k2_030| A2k_040c| A4k_040 | A4k_060C| Compare |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  ADPro       Results in Sec.                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| JPEG Load   |  1.30   |  5.19   |  2.42   |  3.72   |  1.13   |  2.86   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ColorChar.  |  ----   |  9.05   |  6.49   |  9.56   |  3.69   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fresco      |  ----   |  17.59  |  8.87   |  12.83  |  4.73   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Blur        |  0.61   |  2.12   |  0.91   |  1.34   |  0.50   |  2.16   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Twirl       |  2.65   |  9.76   |  3.59   |  6.11   |  1.80   |  2.30   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Rotate      |  2.19   |  9.12   |  3.36   |  5.48   |  1.55   |  2.49   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Scale       |  0.24   |  0.84   |  0.57   |  0.80   |  0.18   |  3.34   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Mosaic      |  2.17   |  30.64  |  5.44   |  7.92   |  1.14   |  3.63   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| HistEqual.  |  0.43   |  11.41  |  4.05   |  5.45   |  0.35   |  12.39  |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  ImageStudio Results in Sec.                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| JPEG Load   |  ----   |  ----   |  1.12   |  1.64   |  0.47   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Scale       |  ----   |  ----   |  0.68   |  1.13   |  0.31   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| BlurHigh    |  ----   |  ----   |  4.29   |  5.93   |  1.15   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Cross       |  ----   |  ----   |  1.86   |  2.73   |  0.61   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Diagonal    |  ----   |  ----   |  2.22   |  3.18   |  0.67   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Focus       |  ----   |  ----   |  1.66   |  2.39   |  0.53   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Shake       |  ----   |  ----   |  2.02   |  2.94   |  0.65   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Texture     |  ----   |  ----   |  2.60   |  3.69   |  0.77   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| EmbossHigh  |  ----   |  ----   |  2.16   |  3.11   |  0.69   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  CygnusEd    Results in Sec.                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TextLoad    |  ----   |  0.44   |  0.46   |  0.47   |  0.26   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Search      |  ----   |  3.52   |  3.50   |  3.05   |  0.73   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Replace     |  ----   |  3.58   |  1.89   |  2.47   |  0.81   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Linescroll  |  ----   |  6.82   |  6.31   |  2.99   |  1.87   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Pagescroll  |  ----   |  4.19   |  5.06   |  2.32   |  0.58   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ChangeCase  |  ----   |  6.59   |  2.97   |  3.93   |  1.50   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| RotMarked   |  ----   |  1.35   |  1.02   |  1.36   |  0.43   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  GoldEd      Results in Sec.                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TextLoad    |  ----   |  ----   |  1.05   |  1.02   |  0.38   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Search      |  ----   |  ----   |  2.17   |  2.32   |  0.79   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Replace     |  ----   |  ----   |  0.76   |  0.80   |  0.25   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Linescroll  |  ----   |  ----   |  4.60   |  1.96   |  1.33   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Pagescroll  |  ----   |  ----   |  3.20   |  1.68   |  0.54   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| UpperCase   |  ----   |  ----   |  0.42   |  0.52   |  0.15   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Sort Lines  |  ----   |  ----   |  3.65   |  5.20   |  1.35   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  Cruncher    Results in Sec.                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| LhaCrunch   |  3.20   |  5.97   |  4.10   |  9.03   |  2.19   |  2.82   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| LhaTest     |  0.32   |  0.64   |  0.46   |  0.70   |  0.23   |  2.19   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| LhaDeCrunch |  0.46   |  0.79   |  0.56   |  0.99   |  0.30   |  2.15   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| XPKCrunch   |  ----   |  13.24  |  8.28   |  14.58  |  5.01   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| XPKDeCrunch |  ----   |  2.45   |  1.60   |  2.40   |  0.78   |  ----   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| PPCrunch    |  6.82   |  6.63   |  6.44   |  13.89  |  3.85   |  2.03   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| PPDeCrunch  |  0.24   |  0.50   |  0.40   |  0.72   |  0.17   |  3.02   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  Memory      Results in MB/s                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadROMb    |  17.85  |  4.76   |  7.57   |  5.64   |  15.32  |  3.16   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadROMw    |  25.00  |  9.24   |  14.70  |  10.27  |  22.70  |  2.43   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadROMl    |  41.66  |  17.44  |  25.00  |  12.36  |  30.66  |  3.36   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadFastb   |  17.85  |  4.76   |  7.81   |  5.67   |  20.61  |  3.14   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadFastw   |  25.00  |  9.24   |  15.62  |  10.47  |  33.89  |  2.38   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadFastl   |  41.66  |  17.44  |  27.77  |  13.01  |  51.47  |  3.20   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteFastb  |  17.85  |  6.11   |  8.06   |  4.83   |  20.67  |  3.69   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteFastw  |  22.72  |  12.21  |  15.62  |  7.17   |  35.32  |  3.16   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteFastl  |  27.77  |  24.40  |  15.62  |  7.98   |  40.32  |  3.48   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Fastb  |  6.41   |  3.84   |  6.09   |  3.00   |  9.65   |  2.13   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Fastw  |  7.81   |  7.26   |  9.61   |  4.30   |  13.58  |  1.81   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Fastl  |  8.33   |  13.06  |  10.41  |  4.41   |  16.40  |  1.88   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Fastm  |  8.33   |  12.90  |  13.88  |  3.91   |  16.86  |  2.12   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Fast16 |  10.86  |  ----   |  17.85  |  6.02   |  20.77  |  1.80   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadChipb   |  1.16   |  0.92   |  1.16   |  0.87   |  1.16   |  1.33   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadChipw   |  2.33   |  1.85   |  2.31   |  1.74   |  2.33   |  1.33   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadChipl   |  2.80   |  3.70   |  2.80   |  3.49   |  4.66   |  0.80   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteChipb  |  1.16   |  1.74   |  1.44   |  1.01   |  1.75   |  1.15   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteChipw  |  2.31   |  3.48   |  2.90   |  2.02   |  3.51   |  1.14   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteChipl  |  2.77   |  6.96   |  3.28   |  4.05   |  7.03   |  0.68   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Chip2Chipb  |  0.58   |  0.87   |  0.58   |  0.50   |  0.70   |  1.15   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Chip2Chipw  |  1.16   |  1.74   |  1.16   |  1.01   |  1.40   |  1.14   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Chip2Chipl  |  1.39   |  3.48   |  1.39   |  2.02   |  2.80   |  0.68   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Chip2Chipm  |  1.39   |  3.19   |  1.49   |  2.02   |  2.81   |  0.68   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Chip2Chip16 |  1.65   |  ----   |  1.72   |  2.05   |  3.31   |  0.80   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Chipb  |  1.14   |  0.92   |  1.16   |  0.95   |  1.71   |  1.19   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Chipw  |  2.25   |  1.85   |  2.31   |  1.81   |  3.34   |  1.23   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Chipl  |  2.68   |  3.69   |  2.80   |  3.30   |  6.40   |  0.81   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Chipm  |  2.65   |  5.27   |  3.08   |  2.99   |  6.51   |  0.88   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Fast2Chip16 |  3.01   |  ----   |  3.33   |  3.15   |  5.62   |  0.95   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  Drive       Results in MB/s                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| CreateFile  |  2.71   |  0.90   |  1.56   |  2.81   |  3.38   |  0.96   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WriteFile   |  2.68   |  0.90   |  1.37   |  2.12   |  1.91   |  1.26   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ReadFile    |  2.74   |  1.32   |  1.65   |  2.67   |  3.44   |  1.02   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|  Intuition   Results in Op/s                                            |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| OpenWin16   |  16     |  8      |  10     |  8      |  34     |  2.00   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| OpenWin256  |  16     |  4      |  10     |  8      |  31     |  2.00   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WinLayer16  |  15     |  8      |  10     |  8      |  29     |  1.87   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| WinLayer256 |  15     |  4      |  10     |  8      |  27     |  1.87   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| SizeWin16   |  30     |  13     |  18     |  20     |  37     |  1.50   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| SizeWin256  |  32     |  9      |  18     |  20     |  37     |  1.60   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| MoveWin16   |  62     |  19     |  62     |  78     |  104    |  0.79   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| MoveWin256  |  68     |  11     |  58     |  78     |  103    |  0.87   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ConOutP16   |  49     |  41     |  46     |  93     |  139    |  0.52   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ConOutP256  |  51     |  31     |  46     |  97     |  139    |  0.52   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| OpenScr16   |  1      |  4      |  0      |  1      |  3      |  1.00   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| OpenScr256  |  1      |  5      |  0      |  1      |  3      |  1.00   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| SwapScr16   |  2      |  50     |  2      |  5      |  10     |  0.40   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| SwapScr256  |  2      |  50     |  2      |  5      |  8      |  0.40   |
+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+

The Emulations


The Amiga has one of the most unique capabilities of any computer I have
ever used: emulation.  Love it or loathe it, emulation is a tried and true
method for software use - when developing DOS for the 8088, Bill Gates and
Paul Allen emulated the 8088 chip on a DEC PDP machine, so that when it was
run on a real chip, it worked great.

Emulators have been hit and miss on the Amiga.  Generally, Macintosh was an
easy platform to emulate, because both used Motorola processors.  Most of
these emulators look out for specific system "calls" and send back the
right message.  Hence the emulation is pretty quick.  PC emulators have to
emulate the Intel CPU and then emulate the systems calls, adding lots of
overhead.

Enough of that. The results are:

Macintosh.  I used Speedometer 4.0 on the MAC, which uses a Quadra 605 as
the base machine (it runs an 040 @ 25Mhz).  Using MacPRO running on the
EMPLANT card, my machine registered 3.6x faster, beating a Powermac
6100/60, which used the PowerPC 601 chip running at 60Mhz.  In the Math
tests however, the Powermac came out 107x faster, whereas the 68060 came
out 37x faster, and this is where the PowerPC's strength lies - it's very
good at maths.  Shapeshifter 3.5 reports as 3x faster using the same
program.

PC.  e586DX, the PC module for EMPLANT, is currently at version 2.3, and I
consider it to be unfinished as it lacks quite a few features when compared
to the more polished MacPRO.  Using Norton Tools 5.1, a 386 DX 33 clocks
out at 31x faster than a normal XT.  e586DX registers at 19.1x faster,
equivalent to about a 386 DX 20 or 386 SX 25.  This is enough for the
program to be usable with DOS programs and barely tolerable with low-end
Windows programs (but nothing along the lines of Excel 5 or Word 6).  PC
Task 3.1 in Turbo mode comes out 13x faster than an XT using the same
program.

Caveats

Now come the problems.

(1) For the life of me, I cannot figure this problem out.  On cold boot,
the system will crash 100% guarenteed.  No amount of software
reinstallation will fix the problem, and the problem is not related to
drive spin-up speed.  I have sent Power Computing mail on this topic and
have yet to see a reply, so if they are reading you have been notified... 
When I reboot the system, everything runs great.  If you have a long and
involved User-Startup file like mine, you should be prepared to move
commands around and redirect all output to >NIL: , otherwise the system
will crash.

(2) The non-standard SCSI port did cause me some trouble.  Finding a cable
to connect my ZIP drive was difficult, and most of the Macintosh expert
stores I contacted din't know what I was talking about!  In the end, I
obtained one from the MacZone, but it did cost me $85 NZ, about $57US or
40.  When I connected up the ZIP, I was pleasantly surprised to find the
card automatically recognised the drive (but only with a disk in it!).  I
would still prefer to use a dedicated DOS driver or one such as that
provided by HiSoft (which I have yet to test).

Conclusions

Should you upgrade or purchase the card?  obviously that depends on your
finances and whether you wish to invest in a platform that has no parent
support (currently the Amiga is a bit like the Italian Government - new
stewardship every year!).

I found the boost incredible - I went from a slow 030 to the 060, a
tremendous leap in power.  If you use a 68000 A2000, the leap will be
transformational, and will open up a new level of computing scope and power
for you (emulators!).  If you have an 040, then I would be in two minds.
Unless your machine is used for work purposes and time=money for you, the
investment would probably not be worth it.

I find the card invaluable.  The reason I included the ex VAT costs in the
UK prices is because I live in New Zealand, and goods exported from the UK
should have VAT (17.5%) removed from the prices.  When you compare this to
the US prices, the card comes out much, much cheaper!

UK Supplier  :  Power Computing Ltd
                44 A/B Stanley Street
                Bedford MK41 7RW
                ENGLAND

       Price :  68040 @ 33Mhz      645   (544 ex VAT)
             :  68060 @ 50Mhz      746   (646 ex VAT)

US Supplier  :  Software Hut
                Folcroft East Business Park
                313 Henderson Drive
                Sharon Hill, PA 19079
                USA

       Price :  68040LC @ 33Mhz    $879
             :  68040   @ 33Mhz    $979
             :  68040   @ 40Mhz    $1079
             :  68060   @ 50Mhz    $1459

                Mr. Hardware Computers
                PO Box 148
                Central Islip, NY 11722
                USA

       Price :  68040 @ 33Mhz      $975
             :  68040 @ 40Mhz      $1150
             :  68060 @ 50Mhz      $1451

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

Competitors:

               The 2060 card by Blizzard (of Cyberstorm fame).  Available
               from:
               Gordon Harwood Computers Limited (Available now)
               Dept. AM F/B6
               New Street, Alfreton
               Derbyshire, DE55 7BP
               ENGLAND

       Price : 68060 @ 50Mhz       699   (619 ex VAT)

               DKB Wildfire (DKB). Availability unknown, but the above
                                   dealers do list this card in their 
                                   catalogs.

       Price : 68060 @ 50Mhz       $1699, $1539 street price

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@endnode
@node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 20-May-96"
@toc FTP
| The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 20-May-96
| Updated weekly. Most popular file on top.
|
|File              Dir        Size Age Description
|----------------- ---        ---- --- -----------
ar407.lha          docs/mags  129K   0+Amiga Report 4.07, May 18, 1996
AmiPPP10a.lha      comm/net   119K   0+A great PPP device with GUI v1.0a
FastIPrefs4017.lha util/boot   28K   0+IPrefs 40.17 & WBPattern 40.02
Installer-43_3.lha util/misc  104K   1+Amiga Technologies V43.3 Installer d
AWebBGUI.lha       comm/tcp     8K   1+Improving the speed of AWeb's settin
AWebSave.lha       comm/tcp     2K   0+Script allowing AWeb to save pics/so
xfpointer.lha      util/wb      1K   0+Cool *X-Files* pointer for WB.
ReqToolsUsr.lha    util/libs  157K   1+ReqTools 2.5 - the requester toolkit
PictDT43.lha       util/dtype 182K   1+Picture.datatype V43.714 for AGA/CGr
AmiPhone1.80.lha   comm/net   121K   1+AmiTCP based voice chat program
Gui-FTP.lha        comm/tcp   362K   1+Gui-FTP V3.1 GUI based FTP client
CA31.lha           util/wb    240K   1+ClassAction 3.1 (MUI && GT version)
FontDT-1.2.lha     util/dtype  30K   0+DataType for Amiga fonts
mwm105.lha         text/hyper  76K   0+Magic Web Maker v1.05 - Enhancements
Voyager.lha        comm/net   276K   1+WWW-Browser, Netscape/HTML3-extensio
voyzmime-1.0.lha   comm/net     1K   0+Voyager ARexx script to use zmime fo
wbstars.lha        util/wb     30K   0+V.9 the warp engine for the Workbenc
AWebBookmarks.lha  comm/misc    3K   0+Hierarchical HTML bookmarks
cp6.lha            comm/tcp   465K   0+Amitcp4/PPP14 Installer, Dialler and
Klingon-Accent.lha util/libs   96K   0+Klingon Accent for translator.librar

| The highest rated programs during the week until 20-May-96
| Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you
| download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu :
| RATE <path> <num>
| where <path> is the file you want to judge and <num> is a mark from 0..10
| with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but
| don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8
|
|File              Dir        Size Age Description
|----------------- ---        ---- --- -----------
AmiPOP118.lha      comm/net    98K  34+Amiga POP3 Client V1.18
AmigaBase22.lha    biz/dbase  462K  25+Powerful programmable database with
Knights242.lha     game/2play 223K  80+Two-player violent dungeon bashing
SneechV1_5.lha     game/2play 390K   9+NEW Vers of *THE BEST* Multi Snake G
ViperAGA12.lha     game/2play 390K  81+Updated AGA Snake game with 6 player
Defektris.lha      game/think 142K  76+Enhanced Tetris with custom level ed
Hydrocis19.lha     game/think 194K  17+V1.9, with real time water simulatio
voxel087.lha       gfx/aga    788K   6+Voxel Engine 0.87 by Silicon Motion
ShapeShifter.lha   misc/emu   224K   2+Macintosh II emulator, V3.5
LhA_e138.run       util/arc   107K 193 LhA evaluation version 1.38
PowerSnap22a.lha   util/cdity  54K 118+Snap and paste anywhere using the mo
ficherosdelsis.lha docs/hyper  59K   1+AmigaGuide Text containig info about
ALynx.lha          comm/net   277K  43+Textbased WWW browser (AmiTCP/MLink)
nemac411.lha       game/demo  132K   7+Update of texture map game
xtrndemo.lha       game/demo  680K  20+XTreme Racing Net Demo
BorisBall.lha      game/demo  339K   5+Demo of a Megaball beater with 8 BAL
DGalaga2.6cAGA.lha game/shoot 465K  34+Latest version of the best shoot em'
xanim8.lha         gfx/show   253K  47+XAnim: Avi/Quicktime/FLI/FLC/IFF/GIF
MCP110.lha         util/cdity 395K  15+MAJOR UPDATE! The mother of the WB-U
EasyFR21.lha       comm/fido  116K  10+V2.1 F'Req handler. XPK & traplist
MetaTool.lha       comm/mail  207K   9+The Amiga MIME Mailer (40.5)
AWeb.lha           comm/tcp   263K   4+Fast, graphical WWW browser V 1.1 bu
speed.lha          demo/aga    64K  55+Triumph AGA intro (TG95). 040/882 re
BrainState.lha     demo/file  665K  48+AGA Demo by Cryptoburners. 2nd at TG
a95-tsl.lha        demo/ta95  566K  38+Fruitkitchen by The Silents DK - Fro
ar406.lha          docs/mags  113K   3+Amiga Report 4.06, April 23, 1996
MasterBlast221.lha game/2play 197K  25+The ultimate Dynablaster Clone V2.2
RoketzPD_V2.25.lha game/2play 670K  66+Ver. 2.25 of this AGA only gravity-s
poing2.lha         game/2play 320K  10+A cool pong game with powerups & mor
SpringTime.lha     game/think 295K  57+Great 3d puzzle game by TRECISION
@endnode

@node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List"
@toc WHERE

===========================================================================
                        Amiga Report Mailing List
===========================================================================

If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in
@{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released.  To be put on
the list, send Email to majordomo@amigalib.com

Your subject header will be ignored.  In the body of the message, enter

subscribe areport

The system will automatically pull your e-mail address from the message
header.

Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact
copy.  For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages.


** IMPORTANT NOTICE:  PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over   **
** 100K!  We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a  **
** 100K size limit for incoming mail.  If we get a bounceback with your  **
** address in it, it will be removed from the list.  Thanks!             **
@endnode
@node UUENCODE
@toc MAILLIST

===========================================================================
                          UUDecoding Amiga Report
===========================================================================

If you receive Amiga Report from the direct mailing list, it will arrive in
UUEncoded format.  This format allows programs and archive files to be sent
through mail by converting the binary into combinations of ASCII
characters.  In the message, it will basically look like a lot of trash
surrounded by begin <filename> and end, followed by the size of the file.


To UUDecode Amiga Report, you first need to get a UUDecoding program, such
as UUxT by Asher Feldman.  This program is available on Aminet in

     pub/aminet/arc/

Then you must download the message that it is contained in.  Don't worry
about message headers, the UUDecoding program will ignore them.

There is a GUI interface for UUxT, which should be explained in the docs.
However, the quickest method for UUDecoding the magazine is to type

     uuxt x ar.uu

at the command prompt.  You will then have to decompress the archive with
lha, and you will then have Amiga Report in all of its AmigaGuide glory.

If you have any questions, you can write to @{"Jason Compton" link JASON}

@endnode
@node AMINET "Aminet"
@toc WHERE

                                  Aminet
                                  ======

To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to
docs/mags.  All the back issues are located there as well.

Sites: ftp.netnet.net, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.luth.se, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk

@endnode
@node WWW "World Wide Web"
@toc WHERE

                              World Wide Web
                              ==============

AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). 
Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it.  It
can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX.

Simply tell Mosaic to open one of the following URLs:
     http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/
     http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/
     http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR
     http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/
     http://ramiga.rnet.cgi.com/~AR
     http://www.sci.muni.cz/ar/
     http://metro.turnpike.net/P/panther/main.html
     http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/
     http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html
     http://www.vol.it/mirror/amiga/
     http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar.html
     http://www.acropolis.net/clubs/amiga/amigareport/
     http://www.bengala.saccii.net.au/ar/main.html

The following AR sites also have a mailto form, allowing you to mail to
Amiga Report from the web site.  <Make sure your reader has forms
capability).
     http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/
     http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/kcci1

Amiga information can also be accessed at this URL:
     http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html

Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or
(using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu
@endnode
@node COPYRIGHT "Copyright Information"
@toc ABOUT

===========================================================================
                Amiga Report International Online Magazine
                  June 12, 1996           Issue No. 4.08
                       Copyright 1996 FS Publications
                             All Rights Reserved
===========================================================================

Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of
FS Publications.  Permission to reprint articles is hereby denied, unless
otherwise noted.  All reprint requests should be directed to the editor. 
Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without
prior written permission.  However, translation into a language other than
English is acceptible, provided the editor is notified beforehand and the
original meaning is not altered.  Amiga Report may be distributed on
privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost
of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not
limited to) Delphi and Portal.  Distribution on public domain disks is
acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. 
no more than $5 US).  CD-ROM compilers should contact the editor. 
Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission
from the editor.  Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication.  Amiga
Report, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate.  Amiga
Report, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible
for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results
obtained there from.  Amiga Report is not affiliated with Escom AG or
VIScorp.  All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair
Use Provision of the Copyright Laws of the United States Penal Code.  Any
Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part,
without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail
is specifically requested not to be reprinted.

===========================================================================
@endnode
@node GUIDELINE "Amiga Report Writing Guidelines"
@toc ABOUT

===========================================================================
                      Amiga Report Writing Guidelines
===========================================================================

The three most important requirements for submissions to Amiga Report are:

     1.  Please use English.

     2.  Please use paragraphs.  It's hard on the eyes to have solid
     screens of text.  If you don't know where to make a paragraph break,
     guess.

     3.  Please put a blank line in between paragraphs.  It makes
     formatting the magazine much much easier.

     4.  Please send us your article in ASCII format.

Note:  If you want to check ahead of time to make sure we'll print your
article, please write to the @{"Editor" link JASON}.

Please stipulate as well if you wish to retain copyright or hand it over to
the editor.
@endnode
@node EDITORCHOICE "Editor's Choice"
@toc COMMERCIAL

===========================================================================
                              Editor's Choice
===========================================================================

These are selected products, reviewed by myself, that I've liked.  So, I've
landed them and decided to sell them.

All prices are in $US.

John McDonough's The Music Maker, a Contemporary New Age CD composed on the
Amiga, is available through Amiga Report.

The crisp, clean sounds and calm melodies present a welcome alternative to
many pounding alternatives.

Available for US$12.00 plus $3 shipping in the US.  Non-US orders, please
contact before ordering.  Check or money order accepted addressed to
@{" Jason Compton " link JASON}, shipments made by the artist.

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

|                                | Issue    | Approximate  | Amiga Report |
|           Product              | Reviewed | Retail Price | Reader Price |
---------------------------------|----------|--------------|--------------|
|                                |          |              |              |
|GPFax Amiga Fax Software        |   2.30   |   $100.00    |    $60.00    |
|    (Class 1 and 2)             |          |              |              |
|                                |          |              |              |
|Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 1       |   2.25   |    $69.00    |    $30.00    |
|    (Includes early Transition  |          |              |              |
|    graphics converter and loads|          |              |              |
|    of artwork)                 |          |              |              |
|                                |          |              |              |
|Micro R+D CD-ROM Volume 2       |   2.26   |    $99.95    |    $46.75    |
|    (Includes entire Nature's   |          |              |              |
|    Backdrop series)            |          |              |              |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orders may be placed via check, money order, or postal cheque, made out to
Jason Compton.  Visa/Mastercard accepted via post or E-Mail.  No CODs.

Mail all orders to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}.  Orders will be processed by
Amiga Report and drop-shipped from Micro R+D.

In the US, add $5/$10/$20 for UPS shipping, ground/blue/red label,
respectively.  Overseas: It is recommended that you consider $20 to be the
minimum cost for shipping.  If you plan to order more than one item, E-mail
for shipping cost.

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

Sidewinder's Future Shock II CD is now available through Amiga Report.
Featuring 15 Amiga-generated tunes totalling 71 minutes, Eric Gieseke's
work is captured on an Amiga-independent media.

Available for US$12.00.  Please add $5 for shipping.

Make check or money order payable to @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}.  Orders will be
drop-shipped from Sidewinder Productions.

For overseas orders, please contact through E-Mail before ordering.
@endnode
@node PORTAL "Portal"
@toc ONLINE

===========================================================================
                  Portal:  A Great Place For Amiga Users
===========================================================================

                The Portal Information Network's Amiga Zone

          The AFFORDABLE alternative for online Amiga information
                  "Not just another UNIX Shell account!"

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

Portal is the home of acclaimed Amiga Zone, a full-service online SIG
(Special Interest Group) for Amiga owners and users.  We promise, and WE
DELIVER ongoing & aggressive Amiga support!  Now, more than ever, with so
many Amiga magazines gone or shrunken, you need a viable,
professionally-maintained resource for information, software, and a link to
the world-wide Amiga community.

You can dial into Portal to access the Amiga Zone in many ways: direct
dial to our San Jose, CA high-speed modems (you pay for the phone call
if it's not local), or though any SprintNet or Compuserve indial anywhere
(with a small hourly fee) or via the World-wide Internet "telnet"
program to portal.com (no hourly fee).

Even Delphi and BIX users can Telnet into Portal for a flat $19.95 a month,
with *unlimited* use.

Portal is NOT just another shell service!  Its Online system is fully
menu-driven with on-screen commands and help, and you can easily customize
it for your favorite terminal program and screen size.

Some of Portal/Amiga Zone's amazing features include:

 * 2.5 GIGabytes of Amiga-specific file space - we have so much Amiga Stuff
      online, we've lost count!
 * The *entire* Fred Fish collection of freely distributable software,
       online.  ALL 1100 disks!
 * Fast, Batch Zmodem file transfer protocol. Download up to 100 files or
      100 email letters at once, of any size, with one command.
 * Amiga vendor areas with many companies participating.
 * So many incoming lines you'll probably NEVER get a busy signal
 * 40 "regular" Amiga libraries with over 12,000 files.  Hot new stuff
       arrives daily.
 * No upload/download "ratios" EVER. Download as much as you want, as
      often as you want, and never feel pressured doing it.
 * Live, interactive nightly chats with Amiga folks whose names you will
      recognize.  Special conferences.  Random chance prize contests.  We
      have given away thousands of bucks worth of Amiga prizes - more than
      any other online service.
 * Message bases where you can ask questions about *anything* Amiga
      related and get quick replies from the experts.
 * Amiga Internet mailing lists for Imagine, AMosaic, LightWave, ImageFX,
      Picasso II & others feed right into the Zone message bases.  Read
      months worth of postings.  No need to clutter your mailbox with them.
 * FREE unlimited Internet Email with 5 meg of free storage.
      Your email is private, secure, and never censored or monitored.
 * A FREE UNIX Shell account with another 5 meg of free storage.
      You can run AMosaic and other Browses via your shell and explore the
      vast World Wide Web!  Intermediate to advanced users can use
      any standard UNIX mail and news utilities, compilers, and other
      tools.  Ask for your free UNIX book when you sign up.
 * A home for your own Web page!  Your UNIX Shell on Portal is linked
      to Portal's Web Server. Create your own WWW pages for the whole
      world to access. No extra charges!
 * Portal has the Usenet.  Thousands of "newsgroups" in which you can read
      and post articles about virtually any subject you can possibly
      imagine. Newsgroups are not censored!
 * Other Portal SIGs (Special Interest Groups) online for Mac, IBM, Sun,
      UNIX, Science Fiction, Disney, and dozens more.  ALL Portal SIGs are
      accessible to ALL Portal customers with NO surcharges ever. You
      never worry "Ooops... Am I paying more for this area?" again!
 * Portal was THE FIRST online service to offer a full package of Internet
      features: IRC, FTP, TELNET, MUDS, LIBS wrapped into user-friendly
      menus.  And you get FREE unlimited usage of all of them.
 * Our exclusive PortalX by Steve Tibbett, the graphical "front end" for
      Portal which will let you automatically click'n'download your waiting
      email, messages, Usenet groups and binary files!  Reply to mail and
      messages offline using your favorite editor and your replies are sent
      automatically the next time you log into Portal.  (PortalX requires
      Workbench 2.04 or higher)
 * Portal does NOT stick it to high speed modem users. Whether you log in
      at 1200 or 2400 or 9600 or 14.4K you pay the same low price.

To join Portal or for more information call:

   1-800-433-6444 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time
   1-408-973-9111 (voice) 9a.m.-5p.m. Mon-Fri, Pacific Time

   1-408-725-0561 (modem 3/12/2400) 24 hours every day
   1-408-725-0560 (modem 96/14400) 24 hours every day

   or enter "C PORTAL" from any Sprintnet dial-in, or "portal" at any
   CI$ network dialin, or telnet to "portal.com" from anywhere,
   and then enter "online" and then "info"

   or send email to "sales@portal.com"

Visit the Amiga Zone Web page at http://www.portal.com/~harv

Call and join today.  Tell the friendly Portal Customer Service
representative, "The Amiga Zone sent me."  Ask for the "Interactive"
account to get the Amiga Zone, the Online System and a UNIX Shell for
only $19.95 a month.

The Portal Information Network accepts MasterCard, Visa, or you can pre-pay
any amount by personal check or money order.  The Portal Online System is a
trademark of The Portal Information Network.  SLIP, UUCP, custom domain
and corporate accounts are also available.
@endnode
@node BBS_ASIA "Distribution BBSes - Asia"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                         Distribution BBSes - Asia
===========================================================================

                                 -=JAPAN=-

                           * GIGA SONIC FACTOR *
                     Email: kfr01002@niftyserve.or.jp
                            +81-(0)564-55-4864
@endnode
@node BBS_AUSTRALIA "Distribution BBSes - Australia"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                      Distribution BBSes - Australia
===========================================================================

                              -=NEW ZEALAND=-

                             * BITSTREAM BBS *
               FidoNET 3:771/850.0   AmigaNET 41:644/850.0
                             +64-(0)3-548-5321


                               -=VICTORIA=-

                         * NORTH WEST AMIGA BBS *
          EMail: mozza@nwamiga.apana.org.au     Fido: 3:633/265.0
         BBS Phone/Fax: +61 3 9331 2831   USR Courier V.Everything
@endnode
@node BBS_EUROPE "Distribution BBSes - Europe"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                        Distribution BBSes - Europe
===========================================================================

                                -=FINLAND=-

                               * LAHO BBS *
                    +358-64-414 1516   +358-64-414 0400
                    +358-64-414 6800   +358-64-423 1300

                             * KINDERGARTEN *
                      Email: matthias.bartosik@hut.fi
                             +358-0-881 32 36


                                -=FRANCE=-

                              * DYNAMIX BBS *
                        Email: erlsoft@mcom.mcom.fr
                    +33.1.48.89.96.66 Minitel to Modem

                        * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING *
     Internet: user.name@ramses.fdn.org     Fidonet: 2/320/104-105-106
                      +33-1-45845623   +33-1-53791200


                                -=GERMANY=-

                           * DOOM OF DARKNESS *
                      Email: marc_doerre@doom.ping.de
                          +49 (0)4223 8355 19200
           AR-Infoservice, contact Kai Szymanski kai@doom.gun.de

                              * IMAGINE BBS *
                    Email: Sysop@imagine.commo.mcnet.de
                              +49-69-4304948
              Login: GAST (Download area:  "Amiga-Report")

                         * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL *
                    Usenet: andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de
                       49-30-8110060   49-30-8122442
                 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report"

                              * REDEYE BBS *
                        Internet: sysop@coolsurf.de
         Modem/ISDN: +49-89.54662690   Modem only:+49.89.54662680

                          * STINGRAY  DATABASE *
                 EMail: sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de
                              +49 208 496807

                            * VISION THING BBS *
                             ++49(0)345 663914
                          System Password: Amiga


                                -=GREECE=-

                            * HELLAS ON LINE *
          EMail: cocos@prometheus.hol.gr    Telnet: hellas.hol.gr
                    ++301/ 620-6001, 620-6604, 620-9500

                              * ODYSSEY BBS *
             email: odyssey@acropolis.net   Amiganet: 39:250/1.0
                  ++301-4123502   23.00-09.00 Local Time
                http://www.acropolis.net/~konem/odygb.html


                                -=IRELAND=-

                               * FWIBBLE!  *
               Fidonet: 2:263/900.0   E-Mail: 9517693@ul.ie
              Phone: +353-902-36124    Midnight to 8am (GMT)
                       Freq "Readme.txt" for details


                                 -=ITALY=-

                        * AMIGA PROFESSIONAL BBS *
                 Amy Professional Club, Italian Amos Club
                              +(39)-49-604488

                               * AMIPRO BBS*
                         AR and AMINET distributor
                               +39-49604488

                               * FRANZ BBS *
                          EMsil: mc3510@mclink.it
                               +39/6/6627667

                                 * IDCMP *
                             Fidonet 2:322/405
                               +39-542-25983

                             * SPEED OF LIFE *
                  FidoNet 2:335/533   AmigaNet 39:102/12
                The AMIGA Alchemists' BBS   +39-931-833773


                              -=NETHERLANDS=-

                       * AMIGA ONLINE BS HEEMSTEDE *
   Fidonet: 2:280/464.0, 2:280/412.0   Internet: michiel@aobh.xs4all.nl
                       +31-23-282002   +31-23-470739

                             * THE HELL BBS *
           Fido-Net : 2:281/418.0   e-mail : root@hell.xs4all.nl
                             +31-(0)70-3468783

                          * TRACE BBS GRONINGEN *
            FidoNET 2:282/529.0   Internet Martin@trace.idn.nl
                             +31-(0)-50-410143

                              * X-TREME BBS *
                      Internet: u055231@vm.uci.kun.nl
                               +31-167064414


                                -=NORWAY=-

                              * FALLING BBS *
                       EMail:  christon@powertech.no
                               +47 69 256117


                                -=POLAND=-

                          * SILVER DREAM!'S BBS *
                            SysOp: Silver Dream
                               +48 91 540431


                               -=PORTUGAL=-

                               * CIUA BBS *
                FidoNet 2:361/9   Internet: denise.ci.ua.pt
                           +351-34-382080/382081


                                -=RUSSIA=-

                             * NEW ORDER BBS *
           E-Mail: norder@norder.spb.su   FidoNet: 2:5030/221.0
                              +7-812-2909561


                                 -=SPAIN=-

                            * GURU MEDITATION *
                              +34-1-383-1317

                            * LA MITAD OSCURA *
             E-Mail: jovergon@offcampus.es   Fido: 2:341/35.19
                               +34-1-3524613

                        * MAZAGON - BBS - SYSTEMS *
       E-mail: jgomez@maze.mazanet.es   FTP: ftp-mail@ftp.mazanet.es
                               +34 59 536267
                              Login: a-report


                                -=SWEDEN=-

                                * CICERON *
                           E-mail: a1009@itv.se
                               +46 612 22011


                              -=SWITZERLAND=-

                          * LINKSYSTEM LINK-CH1 *
                   contact: rleemann@link-ch1.aworld.de
                   +41 61 3215643   ISDN: +41 61 3832007
                 Local newsgroup link-ch1.ml.amiga-report


                                -=UKRAINE=-

                            * AMIGA HOME BBZ *
         E-Mail: Oleg.Khimich@bbs.te.net.ua   FidoNet: 2:467/88.0
                              +380-482-325043


                            -=UNITED KINGDOM=-

                           * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 *
        Internet: sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk     FidoNet: 2:440/20
                             +44 (0)372 271000

                             * CREATIONS BBS *
           E-Mail: mat@darkside.demon.co.uk   2:254/524@Fidonet
                             +44-0181-665-9887

                            * DRAUGHTFLOW BBS *
                   Email: Ian_Cooper@draught.demon.co.uk
                            +44 (01707) 328484

                              * METNET CCS *
     Email: metnet@demon.co.uk    FidoNet: 2:2502/129.0  2:2502/130.0
                     +44-1482-442251   +44-1482-444910

                           * OCTAMED USER BBS *
                    EMail: rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk
                            +44 (01703) 703446

                              * SCRATCH BBS *
      EMail: kcci1@solx1.susx.ac.uk     Official Super Skidmarks site
                              +44-1273-389267
@endnode
@node BBS_NAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - North America"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                    Distribution BBSes - North America
===========================================================================

                                -=ARIZONA=-

                       * MESSENGER OF THE GODS BBS *
                           mercury@primenet.com
                               602-326-1095


                           -=BRITISH COLUMBIA=-

                             * COMM-LINK BBS *
       EMail: steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com   Fido: 1:153/210.0
                               604-945-6192


                              -=CALIFORNIA=-

                            * TIERRA-MIGA BBS *
             FidoNet: 1:202/638.0   Internet: torment.cts.com
                               619.292.0754

                          * VIRTUAL PALACE BBS *
                   Sysop Email: tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu
                                916-343-7420

                        * AMIGA AND IBM ONLY BBS *
            EMail: vonmolk@crash.cts.com   AmigaNET: 40:406/7.0
                               (619)428-4887


                                -=FLORIDA=-

                            * LAST! AMIGA BBS *
                              (305) 456-0126


                               -=ILLINOIS=-

                           * EMERALD KEEP BBS *
                 FidoNet: 1:2250/2     AmigaNet: 40:206/1
                               618-394-0065

                            * PHANTOM'S LAIR *
  FidoNet: 1:115/469.0   Phantom Net Coordinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0
                         708-469-9510 708-469-9520

                            * STARSHIP CUCUG *
                       Email: khisel@prairienet.org
                               (217)356-8056

                         * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS *
                            FIDONet-1:115/384.0
                  312-384-0616   312-384-6250 (FREQ line)


                               -=LOUISIANA=-

                             * The Catacomb *
                        E-mail: Geoff148@delphi.com
                               504-882-6576


                                 -=MAINE=-

                     * THE KOBAYASHI ALTERNATIVE BBS *
                           FidoNet: 1:326/404.0
                      (207)/784-2130   (207)/946-5665
                     ftp.tka.com for back issues of AR


                                -=MEXICO=-

                               * AMIGA BBS *
                             FidoNet  4:975/7
                               (5) 887-3080

                           * AMIGA SERVER BBS *
                                  5158736

                          * TERCER PLANETA BBS *
                           FX Network 800:525/1
                              [525]-606-2162


                              -=MISSISSIPPI=-

                            * THE GATEWAY BBS *
        InterNet: stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil   FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0
                               601-374-2697


                               -=MICHIGAN=-

                            * DC PRODUCTIONS *
                    Email: dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com
                               616-373-0287


                                -=NEVADA=-

                              * PUP-TEK BBS *
                       EMail: darkwolf@accessnv.com
                               702-553-2403

                              -=NEW JERSEY=-

                          * T.B.P.  VIDEO SLATE *
                               201-586-3623

                           * DLTACOM AMIGA BBS *
       Internet: dltacom.camphq.fidonet.org   Fidonet: 1:2606/216.0
                              (201) 398-8559


                               -=NEW YORK=-

                             * THE BELFRY(!) *
                             stiggy@belfry.org
                        718.793.4796   718.793.4905
                          http://www.belfry.org/


                                -=ONTARIO=-

                           * COMMAND LINE BBS *
                               416-533-8321

                              * CYBERSPACE *
                       joehick@ophielia.waterloo.net
                      (519) 579-0072   (519) 579-0173

                          * EDGE OF REALITY BBS *
            EMail: murray.smith@er.gryn.org   Fido: 1:244/320.0
                               (905)578-5048


                                -=QUEBEC=-

                         * CLUB AMIGA DE QUEBEC *
          Internet: snaclaq@megatoon.com   Voice: (418) 666-5969
                      (418) 666-4146   (418) 666-6960
               Nom d'usager: AMREPORT   Mot de passe: AMIGA

                              * GfxBase BBS*
        E-mail: ai257@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu   Fidonet: 1:167/192
                               514-769-0565


                               -=TENNESSEE=-

                            * AMIGA CENTRAL! *
                      Email: root@amicent.raider.net
                               615-383-9679

                               * NOVA BBS *
                            FidoNet 1:362/508.0
                               615-472-9748


                               -=VIRGINIA=-

                       * NETWORK XXIII DATA SYSTEM *
                       EMail: gottfrie@acca.nmsu.edu
                               804-266-1763
                      Login: anon   Password: nopass


                              -=WASHINGTON=-

                          * FREELAND MAINFRAME *
                         Internet - freemf.wa.com
                               (360)412-0228

                              * PIONEERS BBS *
                            FidoNet: 1:343/54.0
                               206-775-7983
      Login: Long Distance   Password: longdistance   Or FREQ: AR.lha
@endnode
@node BBS_SAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - South America"
@toc BBS

===========================================================================
                    Distribution BBSes - South America
===========================================================================

                                -=BRAZIL=-

                            * AMIGA DO PC BBS *
           Fidonet: 4:801/44   Internet: fimoraes@dcc.unicamp.br
      +55-192-33-2260   Weekdays: 19-07 (-3 GMT)   Weekends: 24 hours

@endnode
@node DEAL_ASIA "Dealers - Asia"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                              Dealers - Asia
===========================================================================

                                 -=JAPAN=-
                             Grey Matter Ltd.
                           1-22-3,Minami Magome
                        HillTop House 2F suite 201
                             Ota-ku,Tokyo 143
              Tel:+81 (0)3 5709-5549   Fax:+81 (0)3 5709-1907
    BBS: +81 (0)3 5709-1907   Email: nighty@gmatter.japan-online.or.jp

@endnode
@node DEAL_AUSTRALIA "Dealers - Australia"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                            Dealers - Australia
===========================================================================

                              -=QUEENSLAND=-

                               Image Domain
                               92 Bridge St
                        Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
                     E-mail: s322698@student.uq.edu.au
                 Voice: 617-3216-1240   Fax: 617-3852-2720


                             -= NEW ZEALAND =-

                                CompKarori
                         LG/F Karori Shopping Mall
                            Karori, Wellington
                          Tel/Fax: +64 4 476-0212
                       Email: sales@compkarori.co.nz

@endnode
@node DEAL_EUROPE "Dealers - Europe"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                             Dealers - Europe
===========================================================================


                                -=AUSTRIA=-

                   A.R.T.  Computeranimation Ges.m.b.H.
                              Feldstrasse 13
                              3300 Amstetten
                Tel: +43 7472/63566-0 Fax: +43 7472/63566-6

                        Solaris Computec Ges.m.b.H.
                              Mariahilfpark 1
                             A-6020 Innsbruck
               Tel: ++43-512/272724   Fax: ++43-512/272724-2
                       EMail: solaris@computec.co.at


                                -=BELGIUM=-

                              AVM Technology
                            Rue de Rotheux, 279
                              B-4100 Seraing
              Voice: +32 (0)41 38.16.06   Fax: +32 (0)41 38.15.69
                      Email: defraj@mail.interpac.be

                               CLICK!  N.V.
                            Boomsesteenweg 468
                        B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen
           VOICE: +32 (0)3 828.18.15     FAX: +32 (0)3 828.67.36
           INTERNET: vanhoutv@nbre.nfe.be      FIDO: 2:292/603.9


                               -=BULGARIA=-

                           KlubVerband ITA Gmbh
                                1309 Sofia
                          P.F.13, KukushStr.  1-2
                  Tel: +359-2-221471   Fax: +359-2-230062
          Email: KVITA@VIRBUS.BG     Contact: Dr.  ING B.  Pavlov


                                -=DENMARK=-

                               Data Service
                           Att.  Soren Petersen
                              Kaerhaven2a 2th
                              6400 Sonderborg
          Phone/Fax: +45 74 43 17 36   EMail: sorpe-95@sdbg.ih.dk

                              Nemesis Amy BBS
               EMail: boersting@hoa.ping.dk   Fido: 2:238/43
                       USR 33k6 V.E.  +45 75-353726


                                -=FINLAND=-

                          Lincware Computers Ltd
                              Lovkullankuja 3
                               10300 KARJAA
               Voice: +358-50-5573696   Fax: +358-11-231511
                      EMail: linctech@freenet.hut.fi


                                -=FRANCE=-

                            ASCII Informatique
                             10 Rue de Lepante
                                06000 NICE
               Tel: (33) 93 13 08 66   Fax: (33) 93 13 90 95

                            Quartz Infomatique
                          2 bis, avenue de Brogny
                              F-74000 ANNECY
                  Tel./Fax (automatique): +33 50.52.83.31
                          E-Mail: tcp@imaginet.fr


                                -=GERMANY=-

                           AMItech Systems GmbH
                              Ludwigstrasse 4
                             D-95028 Hof/Saale
               VOICE: +49 9281 142812   FAX: +49 9281 142712
                       EMail: bsd@blacky.netz.sub.de

                    dcp, desing+commercial partner GmbH
                               Alfredstr.  1
                              D-22087 Hamburg
                 Tel.: + 49 40 251176 Fax: +49 40 2518567
                 EMail: info@dcp.de WWW: http://www.dcp.de

                          Hartmann & Riedel GdbR
                               Hertzstr.  33
                           D-76287 Rheinstetten
          EMail: rick@p22.aop.schiele-ct.de   Fido: 2:2476/12.22
              Voice: +49 (7242) 2021     Fax: +49 (7242) 5909
             Please call before visiting, or we may be closed.

                             Hirsch & Wolf OHG
                              Mittelstra_e 33
                              D-56564 Neuwied
            Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0   Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31

                           Pro Video Elektronik
                                Roßmarkt 38
                           D-63739 Aschaffenburg
                 Tel: (49) 6021 15713 Fax: (49) 6021 15713


                                 -=ITALY=-

                              C.A.T.M.U.  snc
                            Casella Postale 63
                             10023 Chieri (TO)
                          Tel/Fax: +39 11 9415237
       EMail: fer@inrete.it (Ferruccio Zamuner)   Fido: 2:334/21.19

                            Cloanto Italia srl
                           Via G.  B.  Bison 24
                                33100 Udine
                 Tel: +39 432 545902   Fax: +39 432 609051
              E-Mail: info@cloanto.it   CompuServe: 100145.15


                              -=NETHERLANDS=-

                               Chaos Systems
                               Watermolen 18
                           NL-1622 LG Hoorn (NH)
            Voice: +31-(0)229-233922   Fax/Data: +31-(0)229-TBA
     E-mail: marioh@fwi.uva.nl   WWW: http://gene.fwi.uva.nl/~marioh/


                                 -=SPAIN=-

                               Amiga Center
                               Argullós, 127
                              08016 Barcelona
                Tel: (93) 276 38 06     Fax: (93) 276 30 80

                           Amiga Center Alicante
                                Segura, 27
                              03004 Alicante
                            Tel: (96) 514 37 34

                               Audio Vision
                               San Jose, 53
                             Gijon (Asturias)
                           Tel.  (98) 535 24 79

                        Centro Informático Boadilla
                                Convento, 6
                     28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid)
                Tel: (91) 632 27 65     Fax: (91) 632 10 99

                                Centro Mail
                            Tel: (91) 380 28 92

                                  C.R.E.
                             San Francisco, 85
                          48003 Bilbao (Vizcaya)
                Tel: (94) 444 98 84     Fax: (94) 444 98 84

                               Donosti Frame
                           Avda.  de Madrid, 15
                      20011 San Sebastián (Guipuzcoa)
                Tel: (943) 42 07 45     Fax: (943) 42 45 88

                            Eurobit Informatica
                    C/.  Gral.  Garcia de la Herran, 4
                           11100 - San Fernando
                                   Cadiz
                           Tel/Fax: (956) 896375

                                 GaliFrame
                           Galerías Príncipe, 22
                             Vigo (Pontevedra)
                Tel: (986) 22 89 94     Fax: (986) 22 89 94

                                 Invision
                             San Isidro, 12-18
                     28850 Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid)
              Tel: (91) 676 20 56/59     Fax: (91) 656 10 04

                                 Invision
                               Salamanca, 53
                              46005 Valencia
              Tel: (96) 395 02 43/44     Fax: (96) 395 02 44

                                  Norsoft
                                Bedoya, 4-6
                               32003 Orense
                Tel: (988) 24 90 46     Fax: (988) 23 42 07

                                 PiXeLSOFT
                              Felipe II, 3bis
                              34004 Palencia
                Tel: (979) 71 27 00     Fax: (979) 71 28 28

                            Tu Amiga Ordinadors
                              C/ Progreso, 6
                       08120 La LLagosta (Barcelona)
                  Tel: +34-3-5603604   Fax: +34-3-5603607

                                  vb soft
                               Provenza, 436
                              08025 Barcelona
                Tel: (93) 456 15 45     Fax: (93) 456 15 45


                                -=NORWAY=-

                             DataKompaniet ANS
                        Trondheim Innovation Centre
                           Prof.  Brochs gt.  6
                             N-7030 Trondheim
                  Tel: +47 7354 0375   Fax: +47 7394 3861
EMail:datakompaniet@interlink.no  WWW:http://www.interlink.no/datakompaniet

                              Sezam Software
                              Ulsmĺgveien 11a
                              N-5o5o Nesttun
                       Tel/Fax: +47 55100070 (9-20)
           ABBS: +47 55101730 (24t)   Email: oleksy@telepost.no


                                -=SWEDEN=-

                                DataVision
                                 Box 1305
                              753 11 Uppsala
                     Street Address: Sysslomansgatan 9
 Orders: +46 (0)18-123400   Shop: +46 (0)18-124009   Fax: +46 (0)18-100650


                            -=UNITED KINGDOM=-

                           Almathera Systems Ltd
                Southerton House / Boundary Business Court
                             92-94 Church Road
                         Mitcham, Surrey / CR4 3TD
            VOICE: (UK) 081 687 0040     FAX: (UK) 081 687 0490
 Sales: almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk     Tech: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk

                        Brian Fowler Computers Ltd
                           90 South Street / Exeter
                              Devon / EX1 1EN
               Voice: (01392) 499 755   Fax: (01392) 493 393
                Internet: brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk

                             Visage Computers
                              27 Watnall Road
                           Hucknall / Nottingham
           Tel: +44 (0)115 9642828   Tel/Fax: +44 (0)115 9642898
                        EMail: visage@innotts.co.uk

@endnode
@node DEAL_NAMERICA "Dealers - North America"
@toc DEALER

===========================================================================
                          Dealers - North America
===========================================================================

                                -=CANADA=-

                          Animax Multimedia, Inc.
                             Willow Tree Tower
                       6009 Quinpool Road, Suite 802
                       Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 5J7
                 Ph: (902) 429-1921   Fax: (902) 429-1923
                          EMail: info@animax.com
                          http://www.animax.com/

                           APC Computer Services
                            402-5 Tangreen Crt
                         Willowdale, Ont.  M2M 3Z1
                         Voice/Fax: (416) 733-1434
  EMail: shadow@interlog.com   WWW: www.interlog.com/~shadow/apccomp.html

                           Atlantis Kobetek Inc.
                           1496 Lower Water St.
                           Halifax, NS / B3J 1R9
               Phone: (902)-422-6556     Fax: (902)-423-9339
                     E-mail: atkobetek@ra.isisnet.com

                Atlas Computers & Consulting - Derek Davlut
                       400 Telstar Avenue Suite 701
                           Sudbury, ON / P3E 5V7
                Phone: (705) 522-1923   Fax: (705) 522-1923
                   EMail: s2200147@nickel.laurentian.ca

                            CineReal Pro-Video
                            272 Avondale Avenue
                          Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7G8
               Phone/Fax: (613) 798-8150 (Call first to fax)
                        EMail: cinereal@proton.com

                      Computer Shop of Calgary, Ltd.
                          3515 - 18th Street S.W.
                         Calgary, Alberta T2T 4T9
                 Ph.  1-403-243-4358   Fx: 1-403-243-2684
        Email: austin@canuck.com   WWW: http://www.canuck.com/cshop

                           Computerology Direct
                             Powell River, BC
                                  V8A-4Z3
               Call 24 hrs.  orders/inquiries: 604/483-3679
          Amiga users ask for HEAD SALES REP for quicker response!

                        Comspec Communications Inc
                              74 Wingold Ave
                         Toronto, Ontario M6B 1P5
 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348  Sales: (416) 785-3553  Fax: 416-785-3668
      Internet: bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com, bryanf@accesspt.north.net

                             ElectroMike Inc.
                         1375 Boul.  Charest Ouest
                           Quebec, Quebec G1N2E7
         Tel: (418) 681-4138, (800) 463-1501   Fax: (418) 681-5880

                            Forest Diskasaurus
                         35 Albert St., P.O.Box 84
                          Forest, Ontario N0N 1J0
                           Tel/Fax: 519-786-2454
                        EMail: saurus@xcelco.on.ca

                         GfxBase Electronique, Inc
                              1727 Shevchenko
                             Montreal, Quebec
                  Voice: 514-367-2575   Fax: 514-367-5265
                             BBS: 514-769-0565

                         Le Groupe PowerLand
                            630 Champagne
                       Rosemere, Quebec J7A 4K9
             Voice: 514-893-6296   Fax/BBS: 514-965-7295
                    Email: mchabot@nationalnet.com

                              National Amiga
                             Oakville, Ontario
              Fax: 905-845-3295   EMail: gscott@interlog.com
          WWW: http://www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html

                        Oby's Amigo Computing Shop
                             765 Barrydowne Rd
                         Sudbury, Ontario P3A 3T6
            Voice/Fax: (705)524-5826   Email: obys@vianet.on.ca
                  http://icewall.vianet.on.ca/pages/obys

                            Randomize Computers
                                 R.R.  #2
                         Tottenham, Ont.  L0G 1W0
                   vox: 905-939-8371   fax: 905-939-8745
     email: randomize@interlog.com   www: www.interlog.com/~randomize/

                            Software Supermart
                            11010 - 101 Street
                         Edmonton, Alberta T5H-2T1
                Voice: (403) 425-0691   Fax: (403) 426-1701
                       EMail: ssmart@planet.eon.net

                         SpectrumTech Electronics
                       412-1205 Fennell Avenue East
                           Hamilton, ON L8T 1T1
                Voice: (905) 388-9575   BBS: (905) 388-2542
           E-Mail: ste@spectrum.gryn.org   Contact: Derek Clarke

                   Wonder Computers Ottawa Retail Store
                            1315 Richmond Road
                          Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8J7
                 Voice: (613) 721-1800   Fax: 613-721-6992

                  Wonder Computers Vancouver Sales Office
                            2229 Edinburgh St.
                        New Westminster, BC W3M 2Y2
                           (604) 524-2151 voice


                             -=UNITED STATES=-

                               A&D Computer
                               211 South St.
                          Milford, NH 03055-3743
                Voice/Fax: 603-672-4700   BBS: 603-673-2788
                         Internet: amiga@mv.mv.com

                             Alex Electronics
                            597 Circlewood Dr.
                            Paradise, CA 95969
                  Voice: 916-872-0896  BBS: 915-872-3711
     EMail: alex@ecst.csuchico.edu   WWW: http://www.km-cd.com/~alex/

                           Amigability Computers
                               P.O.  Box 572
                           Plantsville, CT 06479
                            VOICE: 203-276-8175
                         Internet: caldi@pcnet.com

                              Amiga-Crossing
                                PO Box 12A
                        Cumberland Center, ME 04021
        VOICE: (800) 498-3959 (Maine only)   VOICE: (207) 829-3959
              FAX: (207) 829-3522   Internet: amiga-x@tka.com

                          Amiga Library Services
                          610 Alma School Rd, #18
                          Chandler, Az 85224-3687
                Voice: (800) 804-0833   Fax: (602) 491-0048
                        E-Mail: orders@amigalib.com

                           Amiga Video Solutions
                           1568 Randolph Avenue
                            St.  Paul, MN 55105
                 Voice: 612-698-1175     Fax: 612-224-3823
           BBS: 612-698-1918     Net: wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu

                          Applied Multimedia Inc.
                              89 Northill St.
                            Stamford, CT 06907
                           VOICE: (203) 348-0108

                            Apogee Technologies
                          1851 University Parkway
                            Sarasota, FL 34243
                            VOICE: 813-355-6121
            Portal: Apogee     Internet: Apogee@cup.portal.com

                            Armadillo Brothers
                            753 East 3300 South
                           Salt Lake City, Utah
          VOICE: 801-484-2791     Internet: B.GRAY@genie.geis.com

                            Computer Advantage
                             7370 Hickman Road
                           Des Moines, IA 50322
                          Voice/Fax: 515-252-6167
                       Internet: Number1@netins.net

                             Computer Concepts
                   18001 Bothell-Everett Hwy, Suite "0"
                             Bothell, WA 98012
                           VOICE: (206) 481-3666

                               Computer Link
                              6573 middlebelt
                           Garden City MI 48135
                 Voice: 313-522-6005     Fax: 313-522-3119
                         clink@m-net.arbornet.org

                            The Computer Source
                          515 Kings Highway East
                            Fairfield, CT 06432
                Voice: (203) 336-3100   Fax: (203) 335-3259

                       Computers International, Inc.
                             5415 Hixson Pike
                           Chattanooga, TN 37343
                            VOICE: 615-843-0630

                          Computerwise Computers
                              3006 North Main
                              Logan, UT 84322

                        Concord Computer Solutions
                        2745 Concord Blvd.  Suite 5
                             Concord, CA 94519
             Orders: 1-888-80-AMIGA   Info/Tech: 510-680-0143
              BBS/Fax: 510-680-4987   Email: moxley@value.net
                         http://www.ccompsol.com/

                              CyberTech Labs
                               PO Box 56941
                         North Pole, Alaska  99705
 Vox: (907) 451-3285   BBS1 : (907) 488-2547   BBS2 & Fax: (907) 488-2647
            EMail: 71516.600@CompuServe.com   Fido: 1:355/17.0

                              DC Productions
                          218 Stockbridge Avenue
                            Kalamazoo, MI 49001
                       (616)373-1985   (800)9DC-PROD
                    Email: dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com

                               Digital Arts
                             1321 North Walnut
                              P.O.  Box 5206
                        Bloomington, IN 47807-5206
          VOICE: (812)330-0124   FAX: (812)330-0126   BIX: msears

                              Digital Castle
                       4046 Hubbell Ave.  Suite 155
                         Des Moines, IA 50317-4434
                           Voice: (515) 266-5098
                          EMail: Sheep@netins.net

                           Electronic Connection
                               635 Penn Ave
                          West Reading, PA 19611
                  Phone: 610-372-1010   Fax: 610-378-0996


                              HT Electronics
           E-Mail: HT Electronics@cup.portal.com     BIX: msears

           422 S. Hillview Dr.          211 Lathrop Way, Ste. A.
           Milipitas, CA 95035          Sacramento, CA 95815
           V: (408) 934-7700            V: (916) 925-0900
           F: (408) 934-7717            F: (916) 925-2829


                           Industrial Video, Inc.
                           1601 North Ridge Rd.
                             Lorain, OH  44055
         VOICE: 800-362-6150, 216-233-4000     Contact: John Gray
                  Internet:  af741@cleveland.freenet.edu

                            Kipp Visual Systems
                          360-C Christopher Ave.
                          Gaithersburg Md, 20878
                               301-670-7906
                           kipp@rasputin.umd.edu

                     The Lively Computer - Tom Lively
                             8314 Parkway Dr.
                             La Mesa, CA 91942
                   Voice: 619-589-9455 Fax: 619-589-5230
                        Net: tlively@connectnet.com

                                Magic Page
                            3043 Luther Street
                          Winston-Salem, NC 27127
           Voice/Fax: 910-785-3695   E-mail: Spiff@ix.netcom.com
                          Contact: Patrick Smith

                                MicroSearch
                        9000 US 59 South, Suite 330
                              Houston, Texas
                 VOICE: 713-988-2818     FAX: 713-995-4994

                         MicroTech Solutions, Inc.
                         1885 N.  Farnsworth Ave.
                               Suites 6-7-8
                           Aurora, IL 60505-1162
        Voice: 708-851-3033   Fax: 708-851-3825   BBS: 708-851-3929
           Email: info@mt-inc.com   WWW: http://www.mt-inc.com/

                          Mr. Hardware Computers
                      P.O.  Box 148 / 59 Storey Ave.
                          Central Islip, NY 11722
                 VOICE: 516-234-8110     FAX: 516-234-8110
                         A.M.U.G. BBS:  516-234-6046

                            Paxtron Corporation
                              28 Grove Street
                          Spring Valley, NY 10977
     Voice: 914-576-6522    Orders: 800-815-3241    Fax: 914-624-3239

                              PSI Animations
                         17924 SW Pilkington Road
                          Lake Oswego, OR  97035
                           VOICE:  503-624-8185
                     Internet:  PSIANIM@agora.rain.com

                          Raymond Commodore Amiga
                            795 Raymond Avenue
                         St. Paul, MN   55114-1521
                 VOICE: 612.642.9890     FAX: 612.642.9891

                           Safe Harbor Computers
                          W226 N900 Eastmound Dr
                            Waukesha, WI 53186
                 Orders: 800-544-6599   Fax: 414-548-8130
                       WWW Catalog: www.sharbor.com

                             Slipped Disk
                           170 E 12 Mile Rd
                   Madison Heights, Michigan 48071
                        Voice: (810) 546-DISK
                  BBS: (810) 399-1292   Fido: 1:120/321.0

                           Software Plus Chicago
                         2945 W Peterson Suite 209
                             Chicago, Illinois
                           VOICE:  312-878-7800

                        System Eyes Computer Store
                          730M Milford Rd Ste 345
                         Merrimack, NH 03054-4642
               Voice: (603) 4244-1188   Fax: (603) 424-3939
                  EMail: j_sauter@systemeye.ultranet.com

                              TJ's Unlimited
                              P.O.  Box #354
                        North Greece, NY 14515-0354
                  VOICE: 716-225-5810   BBS: 716-225-8631
           FIDO: 1:2613/323   INTERNET: neil@rochgte.fidonet.org

                                Zipperware
                             76 South Main St.
                           Seattle, WA  98104
                 VOICE: 206-223-1107     FAX: 206-223-9395
   E-Mail: zipware@nwlink.com   WWW: http://www.speakeasy.org/zipperware

@endnode
@node OPINION "Editorial and Opinion"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                           Editorial and Opinion
===========================================================================

@{"   compt.sys.editor.desk   " link EDITORIAL}  Sorry!

@{"      Amiga Optimism       " link OPINION1}  Kermit Woodall of Nova Design

@{"   Amiga: The Alternative  " link OPINION2}  One prescription for success

@{"   Amigas of the Future    " link OPINION3}  ...and another one.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node NEWS "News & Press Releases"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
                           News & Press Releases
===========================================================================

@{"    ShapeShifter v3.5    " link NEWS1}  Refined Mac emulation

@{" ImageFX Online Special  " link NEWS2}  Get IFX 2.1 while it's hot!

@{"   IAM's New Products    " link NEWS14}  More DiskSalv, books, and DICE

@{"         Aweb-II         " link NEWS3}  Going commercial soon

@{" Wolf Dietrich Responds  " link NEWS4}  To Dave Haynie's observations

@{"       Amiga Clone       " link NEWS10}  Going to China, Amiga in hand

@{"    Spherical Worlds     " link NEWS5}  An upcoming game

@{"  Aminet is Really Big   " link NEWS6}  Huge.

@{"  Amiga Locale Homepage  " link NEWS7}  Get translated

@{" OctaMED Soundstudio V1  " link NEWS8}  The monster CD-ROM

@{" PC <-> Amiga Filesystem " link NEWS9}  Cross-platform connection

@{"         Portals         " link NEWS11}  ANGLE's first release coming soon

@{"    wfmhcybergfx_r3d     " link NEWS12}  Real3D Cybergraphics support

@{"    NetConnect CD-Rom    " link NEWS13}  Coming soon, input needed

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node FEATURE "Featured Articles"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                             Featured Articles
===========================================================================

@{"   Amiga-VIScorp Feedback   " link FEATURE1}  A refined form.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node REVIEW "Reviews"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                                  Reviews
===========================================================================

@{"     Final Writer 5      " link REVIEW2}  A first look!

@{"  Tek-Magik Accelerator  " link REVIEW5}  Go really, really fast.

@{"     Total Football      " link REVIEW3}  Totally.

@{"           XP8           " link REVIEW4}  Shooting asteroids 'n stuff

@{"   Sci Fi Sensations 2   " link REVIEW1}  An unhappy dissection

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node FTP "Aminet Charts"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                               Aminet Charts
===========================================================================

                            @{"    20-May-96    " link CHARTS1}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                            About AMIGA REPORT
===========================================================================

@{"        AR Staff         " link STAFF} The Editors and writers

@{"   Writing Guidelines    " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us

@{"  Copyright Information  " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node STAFF "The Staff"
@toc ABOUT

===========================================================================
                                 The Staff
===========================================================================

               Editor:               @{" Jason Compton    " link JASON}

               Assistant Editor:     @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE}

               Games Editor:         @{" Ken Anderson     " link KEN}

               Contributing Editor:  @{" William Near     " link WILLIAM}

               Contributing Editor:  @{" Addison Laurent  " link ADDISON}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node WHERE "Where to Get AR"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                              Where to Get AR
===========================================================================

                         @{"   The AR Mailing List   " link MAILLIST}

                         @{"         Aminet          " link AMINET}

                         @{"     World Wide Web      " link WWW}

                         @{"   Distribution Sites    " link BBS}

                         @{"   Commercial Services   " link PORTAL}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node BBS "Distribution Sites"
@toc WHERE

===========================================================================
                            Distribution BBSes
===========================================================================

                          Arranged by Continent:

                          @{"      Asia       " link BBS_ASIA}

                          @{"    Australia    " link BBS_AUSTRALIA}

                          @{"     Europe      " link BBS_EUROPE}

                          @{"  North America  " link BBS_NAMERICA}

                          @{"  South America  " link BBS_SAMERICA}

Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name,
its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet
addresses, and the phone number of your BBS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node DEALER "Dealer Directory"
@toc MENU

===========================================================================
                             Dealer Directory
===========================================================================

                          Arranged by Continent:

                          @{"      Asia       " link DEAL_ASIA}

                          @{"    Australia    " link DEAL_AUSTRALIA}

                          @{"     Europe      " link DEAL_EUROPE}

                          @{"  North America  " link DEAL_NAMERICA}

Dealers: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the name,
address, phone, and net address (if available) of your establishment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{"   News   " link NEWS} @{"  Opinion  " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{"  Reviews  " link REVIEW} @{"  Charts  " link FTP} @{"  Adverts  " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
