@DATABASE "AmigaLink #10 December Issue date: 12-2-95" @NODE MAIN "AmigaLink #10 December Issue date: 12-2-95" MERRY X-MAS from the staff of AmigaLink! \\\\\ ///// \\\\\ ///// \\\\\ ///// \\\\\ ///// AMIGA \\\\\ ///// LINK \\\\\///// \\\\//// \\\\\\\/////// (C)AMIGALINK MAGAZINE 1995 (C)JOHN VLACHOS 1995 [100% AMIGA ALL THE TIME] "Your link to news and information" "Any amiga is better than NO amiga" says G.O.D. smith of Gnomes Guest House BBS. @{" Table Of Contents " Link Table_Of_Contents} @{" Editorial " Link 1.} @{" Articles " Link 2.} @{" Distribution sites " Link 3.} @{" We Need You! " Link 4.} @{" Editors picks " Link 5.} @{" Legal Stuff " Link 6.} @{" Letters " Link 7.} @{" Our Staff " Link 8.} @{" Ads " Link 9.} @ENDNODE @NODE Table_Of_Contents " Table Of Contents " MAIN@{" AmigaLink #10 December Issue date: 12-2-95 " Link MAIN} 1.@{" Editorial " Link 1.} 2.@{" Articles " Link 2.} 2.1.@{" Amiga dealers " Link 2.1.} 2.2.@{" Oldies! " Link 2.2.} 2.2.1.@{" AMosaic FAQ " Link 2.2.1.} 2.2.2.@{" DriveIFF " Link 2.2.2.} 2.3.@{" PowerPC announced at VTU expo " Link 2.3.} 2.4.@{" Mailing List " Link 2.4.} 2.5.@{" ESCOM WWW/BBS address " Link 2.5.} 2.6.@{" Our new games editor " Link 2.6.} 2.7.@{" Gaming News Part II " Link 2.7.} 2.8.@{" AmigaLink : Where is it going? " Link 2.8.} 2.9.@{" More PowerPC news! " Link 2.9.} 2.10.@{" Offical PowerPC speech " Link 2.10.} 2.11.@{" Dale's overview of Escom " Link 2.11.} 2.12.@{" Upcoming Games list " Link 2.12.} 2.13.@{" Colongne Expo : A review " Link 2.13.} 2.14.@{" Speech at Kolen " Link 2.14.} 2.15.@{" Speech at Cologne by M.Schmitt " Link 2.15.} 2.16.@{" Speech by Petro.T at Solectron " Link 2.16.} 3.@{" Distribution sites " Link 3.} 3.1.@{" USA " Link 3.1.} 3.1.1.@{" Amiga_Lynx BBS " Link 3.1.1.} 3.1.2.@{" Amiga and Ibm Only BBS " Link 3.1.2.} 3.1.3.@{" The Kobayashi Alternative BBS " Link 3.1.3.} 3.1.4.@{" Pup-Tek BBS " Link 3.1.4.} 3.1.5.@{" StarShip CUCUG " Link 3.1.5.} 3.1.6.@{" Gnomes GuestHouse " Link 3.1.6.} 3.1.7.@{" Eyes Of time " Link 3.1.7.} 3.1.8.@{" Trade "N" Post " Link 3.1.8.} 3.2.@{" Canada " Link 3.2.} 3.2.1.@{" GfxBase BBS " Link 3.2.1.} 3.3.@{" Austrailia " Link 3.3.} 3.3.1.@{" The Brisbane Pinnacle " Link 3.3.1.} 3.3.2.@{" North West Amiga BBS " Link 3.3.2.} 3.3.3.@{" Verbal Verbatim " Link 3.3.3.} 3.4.@{" Europe " Link 3.4.} 3.4.1.@{" Finland " Link 3.4.1.} 3.4.1.1.@{" Amiga-Night-System BBS " Link 3.4.1.1.} 3.5.@{" FTP site " Link 3.5.} 3.6.@{" Telnet " Link 3.6.} 3.7.@{" WWW " Link 3.7.} 3.8.@{" ADS file network " Link 3.8.} 4.@{" We Need You! " Link 4.} 5.@{" Editors picks " Link 5.} 6.@{" Legal Stuff " Link 6.} 7.@{" Letters " Link 7.} 8.@{" Our Staff " Link 8.} 8.1.@{" John Vlachos " Link 8.1.} 8.2.@{" Kelly Cochran " Link 8.2.} 8.3.@{" Dale Poole " Link 8.3.} 8.4.@{" Aaron Mell " Link 8.4.} 9.@{" Ads " Link 9.} 9.1.@{" The Rockpile system " Link 9.1.} @ENDNODE @NODE 1. "Editorial" ######################################################################### #Editor-In-Chief @{"John Vlachos" Link 8.1.} Founder# ************************************************************************* "Your link to news and information" Welcome back. This month has been a very confusing one for me. In issue 8 we had a article on the pricing on the A1200. I re-read issue 8 and thought to myself, the prices seems quite high. Don't get me wrong a A1200 is very hard to come by right now, but 500.00 for a machine with no hard drive (which is totally unwanted by the average user, even a user who will not use lots of space should seriously consider getting an HD with it) is kind of expensive. A more reasonable price would have been $600.00 for an A1200 with an hard drive. Other platforms at selling decent machines fully loaded for 1000.00, in my opinion the A1200 will have great success for people who want one, but an current Ibm user will not pay $750.00 for a machine with two megs of ram, an 170 meg hard drive. The A4000T is also quite expensive but I can understand that, its aimed at being a true video production machine. The DraCo computer, a amiga-imposter is also on the way, the DraCo has four megs of chip memory instead of the two on the A1200/A4000T, it does lack AGA chipset but has an Retina card(opitional). It also lacks an OS, which is sad, the machine has great potential and could probably give the A4000T a kick in the pants! :) Also some good news, we have a new games editor. He will be writing reviews and tips...He is very experienced in the area. We are also planning to start a game Q & A section, in which you send the questions and we send the answers. Just like those expensive gaming magazine you buy at the newstand, except this is free. P.S. We are currently trying to make the magazine better, and would like to make a bit fatter! Why not become a writer for us? P.S.S. AmigaLink magazine is now at the famous Amiga Web page, just go to the magazine section and boom! @ENDNODE @NODE 2. "Articles" We want to read your stores, articles, or opinion e-mail the Editor-In- Chief for details! (Yes even opinion!) Hard? Never! @{" Amiga dealers " Link 2.1.} @{" Oldies! " Link 2.2.} @{" PowerPC announced at VTU expo " Link 2.3.} @{" Mailing List " Link 2.4.} @{" ESCOM WWW/BBS address " Link 2.5.} @{" Our new games editor " Link 2.6.} @{" Gaming News Part II " Link 2.7.} @{" AmigaLink : Where is it going? " Link 2.8.} @{" More PowerPC news! " Link 2.9.} @{" Offical PowerPC speech " Link 2.10.} @{" Dale's overview of Escom " Link 2.11.} @{" Upcoming Games list " Link 2.12.} @{" Colongne Expo : A review " Link 2.13.} @{" Speech at Kolen " Link 2.14.} @{" Speech at Cologne by M.Schmitt " Link 2.15.} @{" Speech by Petro.T at Solectron " Link 2.16.} @ENDNODE @NODE 2.1. "Amiga dealers" Here's the latest from SMG: November 13, 1995 To: All - Please Distribute Widely From: Service Management Group Paul Bielski This is the latest list of Authorized Dealers for Amiga products. We are signing up dealers and processing orders daily. Please check frequently for new dealers. Authorized Dealers as of November 13, 1995 ACS Computer & Video Norcross, GA 404-263-9190 TS Computers North Hollywood, CA 818-760-4445 Compuquick Media Center Columbus, OH 614-235-1180 Mega Bytes Pittsburgh, PA 412-653-9050 The Lively Computer La Mesa, CA 619-589-9455 Select Solutions Champaign, IL 800-322-1261 Kasara Microsystems Hilton Head, SC 803-842-5058 Infotronics Woodbury, CT 203-263-5350 Computer Users Springfield, OR 541-726-8500 Amigo Business Computers East Northport, NY 516-757-7334 MicroTech Solutions Aurora, IL 708-851-3033 MDH Corp.- Safe Harbor Waukeska, WI 414-548-8120 Comspec Communications Toronto, Ontario 416-785-3553 Visionsoft Carmel, CA 408-626-2633 Maxximum Video Creations Boise, ID 208-322-3091 Informmatique Richard Lamond Quebec, Canada 514-227-3799 VIP Systems, Inc. Chapel Hill, NC 919-968-9477 Ring Video Systems Riverside, IL 708-442-0009 Mr. Hardware Central Islip, NY 516-234-8110 Any of these dealers can process your Amiga order. If your favorite dealer isn't listed above, have them contact SMG by calling Rick Stine at (410) 715-6850. Sorry if this is formatted badly, I've re-edited it three times now and it just doesn't seem to want to save correctly. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.2. "Oldies!" This section will review some of the older software, Just in case you missed it. It will also provide short reviews. @{" AMosaic FAQ " Link 2.2.1.} @{" DriveIFF " Link 2.2.2.} @ENDNODE @NODE 2.2.1. "AMosaic FAQ" |Type: Informative |1.3/2.0/3.0 compatible |1 meg required - Amigaguide/multiview |Medium Challenge |Graphics: N/A |Sound: N/A |Fun Factor: N/A (All N/A because this text except for the IFF's included. |Worth the Dl: If you want to get on the WWW with an Amiga this is the place to start. Description: Wanna get on the WEB? This guide features FAQ's about everything about AMosaic. Althrough a bit unorganized text structure, its a great place to start if you wish to get on the WEB. Word of Advisory: AMosaic requires MUI 2.2 or above, 1 meg chip memory and some fast ram is seriously recommened, so is a 28.8 but you need a 68020 to run efficently at 28.8bps (modem speed). Rating: 8 (1-10, 1 being horrifying-10 being excellent) @ENDNODE @NODE 2.2.2. "DriveIFF" |Type: Arcade |1.3/2.0/3.0 compatible |1 meg |"Wacky" challenge |Graphics: 6 |Sound: 5 (catchy tunes) |Fun Factor: 8 |Worth the dl: If you can me decent IFF's then get it, if you aren't an artist sit this one out. :) Description: DriveIFF lets you race around in your favorite IFF's including AmigaLink magazine IFF. I would recommened a 68020 or some fast memory. And experience in making IFF's is also recommened. Similar to Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.3. "PowerPC announced at VTU expo" Amiga Technologies Announces RISC Processor Decision From: Harv@cup.portal.com (Harv R Laser) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Power Amiga (PPC) announced at VTU Expo Date: 2 Nov 1995 18:00:13 -0800 Organization: The Portal System (TM) I spent the day today at the Universal City Hilton hotel for the |2nd annual Video Toaster User expo, which continues thru 04 Nov. 95 Here's a tiny recap - I'll have more to post later along with photos after I get the film developed and scan them. In a half-hour speech to a packed ballroom of about 500 people, Petro Tyschtschenko (say "ta-SHEN-ko"), a very gung-ho and good English-speaking guy, pulled up a black cloth and revealed a brand new production Amiga 4000 Tower, and also showed, cased in lucite, no less, an actual A1200 motherboard produced by AmigaTech along with a German sales packed-A1200 full of bundled software. Tyschtschenko is the President of Amiga Technolgies, GmbH, the wholly owned subsidiary of Escom, AG, and it's the new 40 person (so far) company formed to make Amiga personal computers. (Does anyone not know this yet? :) after Escom bought out Commodore. He then, with much suspense, announced the next generation Amigas will use Motorola's PowerPC CPU and will be dubbed the Power Amiga. Petro, along with his young Press Relations Guy, Gilles Bourdin, explained that Escom has already spent many times its initial $12 million investment in the intellectual properties of Commodore, whom they bought out earlier this year. That They know what the Amiga is, unlike Commodore's former top management, and that "We didn't just buy the Amiga for Christmas." He insisted that the Amiga is back and that development will carry on through the last of the 68xxx processors, the 68060, and then onto the PowerPC. He did not name any ship dates for Power Amigas of course, although scuttlebut says expect them in early '97. Petro further said that so far, 15,000 new AT-made A1200s have been sold in Europe. Not just shipped, sold. To customers. And that over 80,000 more are backordered at dealers and are being made as fast as the factory can crank them out. Amiga Tech GmbH is forming a strategic alliance with Apple Computer, since they have already been before where Amiga is going, from the 68k family of CPUs to the PPC. After Petro spoke, Tim Jenison, Pres. of took the stage and gave a very moving, tearful speech in tribute to Jay Miner, father of the Amiga. This was a speech unlike anything I have ever heard Jenison give before. He was on the verge of tears many times as he recounted his early meetings in Los Gatos with Jay and the early Amiga engineering crew, showing them the first Digiview pictures, how Jay was constantly amazed and thrilled at the things developers were making his little creation do. I took pictures at the press conference and also in the exhibits hall of various people and products and will scan and upload them in the next couple days, putting them on Portal in the Amiga Zone library and on , so look for them soon. That's enough for now. I'm pooped. Writer - Harv Laser Retrived from Usenet. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.4. "Mailing List" We now have an internet mailing list, For internet e-mail users, By enabling this feature you will be sent several UU-encoded files, Which you will have to decode using a UU-decoder like UUXT. To subscribe: Send an internet e-mail message to: listserv@tka.com In the subject line type anything In the MSG/BODY type: ADD amigalink Thats it! To un-subscribe: (Uh-Oh!) Send an internet e-mail message to: listserv@tka.com In the subject line type anything In the BODY/MSG type: DROP amigalink If you need any help or have questions please do hesitate to e-mail the Editor-In-Chief. See issue 7 for details on the Popular en/de-coder UUXT. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.5. "ESCOM WWW/BBS address" Escom now has a bbs, in which you can call. Line 1- +49-6252-73027 Line 2- +49-6252-73028 Line 3- +49-6252-73029 The highest baud rate is: 14.4 The bbs is online 24 hours a day. And the modem setting are 8N1 , you probably have these set already. The bbs allows the following transfer. Proto's. Z-Modem, X-Modem, Y-Modem, and Kermit. We will keep this article up. So if you loose the number, you can load up AmigaLink. Check out their WWW site: http://www.amiga.de/ (In german, You might want to get a translator, From the generous folks at AT) :) Soon to be in english. Thank god! :) @ENDNODE @NODE 2.6. "Our new games editor" |By: @{"Aaron Mell" Link 8.4.}| A new games editor! Welcome Aaron! *The Coming of Age: The Only IBM, AMIGA Test* I remember when I got my first Amiga, my old trusty Amiga, and it opened my eyes up to the greatest game-playing machine I had ever seen at the time. I remember the first games, Artic Fox and Mindwalker where two of the first. And then 3 years later we got the newest breakthrough, the 2000. These were good times when an IBM didnt hold a candle to the Amiga and some of the games then like Blood Money. "The operating system of the Amiga is more advanced than anything the IBM could ever dream up." "Windows was dosshell for the IBM" while the Amiga O/S was five years ahead of IBM. Then there was the 3000 and the 4000 which gave the Amiga users something to brag about. But these past two years IBM is doing the Homework and chatching up fast. I recently purchased an IBM, the reason was twofold. Most Businesses used the IBM so I had to learn how to run one if I was going to get a career in PC repair. I could argue for days about the Pro's / Cons of the systems, but i have found the perfect way to tell if your a IBM or an AMIGA user. if you like to have a hard time installing things or setting up your sound card or if you like having to type of ram go with an IBM. If you want ease of use go with an Amiga. There is only one downfall with Choosing an Amiga, lack of support and a slow release of software for the Amiga system. But the Amiga market is rising and the Amiga support is growing rapidly. There is only one way to get more support for our system write to the Owners of the big software houses tell them what you want. It has always been said that if we could unite as one then we could stand the Amiga back up on its high chair. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.7. "Gaming News Part II" |By: @{"John Vlachos" Link 8.1.}| LucasArts seems to be back into the Amiga, They have released a demo of their upcoming game called "The Dig" which is suppose to be based on space. Anyway the demo was 2.3 megs long, hopefully the game will get high ratings such as Monkey Island. Approach Trainer is a new airplane simulator, Althrough it doesn't come close to Flight Sim. 5 on an Ibm, it was a supplement to A320 airbus. Turbo Trax is a racing game similar to All-terrain-racing, overhead view same graphics. The game is pretty hard through. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.8. "AmigaLink : Where is it going?" |By: @{"John Vlachos" Link 8.1.}| Where is AmigaLink going? Well in two months we should have a much better layout, and style. A new guide editor will be used. AmigaLink should also get fatter due to its high distribution circulation. Where has it been? This is the tenth issue of AmigaLink magazine, lots has happen since the first. :) Such as better layouts, a logo, links, and more. So AmigaLink has improved alot since first issue's. Why was AmigaLink created? AmigaLink was created to give the Amiga user a feeling of hope and information to there finger tips. AmigaLink is not in competing to be #1, but I guess if we make the magazine really good in two months, who knows? AmigaLink is aimed at being an-all magazine which means it has all types of amiga information, not only one subject. How are we doing? We love to hear your comments about the magazine, if you do not like something or love something please tell us so we can improve it! Just e-mail @{"John Vlachos" Link 8.1.}. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.9. "More PowerPC news!" More PowerPC news! Retrived from UseNet. From PowerPC magazine. PowerPC Amiga due 1997 The world should see the first PowerPC-based Amiga by the beginning of 1997, according to Petro Tyschtschenko, President of Amiga Technologies. The original Amiga computer was developed by Commodore which subsequently sold the technology to German PC maker Escom AG earlier this year (mf issue 8). Although best known for games-playing the Amiga A4000 computer is actually a high-quality graphics workstation capable of far more than playing games in |24-bit colour. Cleveland's Constabulary, for example, has used the Amiga to develop a low-cost multimedia information network for its 1,500 of its officers. But whether the first of the new generation machines, dubbed Power Amigas, will be straight clones of the PowerPC standard - the Common Hardware Reference Platform - is still an open question, as the Escom subsidiary debates the best way to maintain backwards compatibility with applications. The company is also in discussion with Motorola on the practicalities of building a variant of the PowerPC 604 processor that includes a 68000-family CISC core. This would ease Amiga's transition to the new RISC architecture. Whether such a hybrid chip can or will be built in time to satisfy Amiga Technologies' tight deadlines remains to be seen, so the company is also pursuing the software emulation path. A spokesperson acknowledged that Amiga is talking to Apple about using its 68k emulation technology, but said that it is also talking to alternative emulator software providers. Running existing Amiga applications on a plain CHRP platform will be tough - the Amiga contains a number of proprietary support chips that the software expect to be present. In the first instance, therefore, it seems likely that the Power Amigas will be a superset of CHRP containing these extra chips. The first models will also have to incorporate Amiga's proprietary bus to allow the use of existing peripherals. However the spokesperson said that the intention is to wean application developers away from accessing the hardware directly; so that newer applications will be hardware independent. Tyschtschenko says that his company intends to actively licence the Amiga OS version 4.1 to other computer companies, the eventual aim is to have the shrink-wrapped OS available in the shops for users of CHRP machines to buy. He is clear that the Amiga's strength is in its software - though asked whether in a few years time Amiga Technologies will just be a software house, he answers frankly "I don't know, I don't have a crystal ball". Visual Information Services Corp is licensing Amiga Technologies GmbH's hardware and software technology to use in a television and set-top box combination. The Chicago, Illinois-based company was established specifically to develop proprietary and Amiga-based set-tops boxes and has ex-engineering staff from Commodore International Ltd among its development team. Amiga is developing a set-top box based around the Amiga operating system and a new and modified version of its A1200 core. Full details of the product were not available as we went to press but a spokesperson for Amiga said that the set-top box will be available next September and will come equipped with a CD-ROM drive, floppy drive, printer port and serial modem connection or a built in modem. Another US company, Omnibox is licensing Amiga's technology to develop its own set-top box devices. Cleveland Constabulary in the North of England is using touch-screen Cleveland Constabula: kiosks to keep in contact with police officers and the public. It has spent UKP150,000 on 30 kiosks, using 26 of them to relay messages to its 1,500 employees. The other four will be in public locations to raise awareness and understanding of police activities. The system is based on Scala InfoChannel. Information is entered into the network by the TV and Video Unit at police headquarters in Middlesbrough and is sent to the screens using British Telecommunications Plc ISDN links. The system runs on an Amiga 4000 home computer fitted with an MPEG video board. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.10. "Offical PowerPC speech" This is official, right outta Escom... PRESS INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Amiga goes POWER PC (TM) Bensheim 07/11/95 (thats 11/7/95 for USA) During his key note address held in Los Angeles at the Video Toaster Expo, Petro Tyschtschenko, CEO and President of Amiga Technologies officially announced the Power PC to be the processor used in the future generation of Amiga computers. The first POWER AMIGA will be available 1st quarter 1997 and will feature the Power PC 604 RISC CPU. Further models will be available later in the entry-level, as well as in the mid-range. The Power Amigas will be backwards compatible with current models and will also feature a new and more powerful chipset. "Our pre-emptive multitasking Operating System AmigaOS will be ported to the Power PC platform first. Our goal is to make our OS hardware independent to allow further ports on other platforms", said Petro Tyschtschenko. He also added: "We have a clear business plan: We do things consequently, step by step. First, we ramped up the production and set up an organisation to handle the Amiga market and satisfy the demand. Now that we have achieved this successfully, we focus on research & development to bring new and better products on the market. One of the mistakes the former Commodore made, was to do too many things at a time, too many promises and therefore losing focus on important aspects of its business. We have learned from these mistakes and won't repeat them. Commitments and promises are nice but facts are better." The developments will also focus on including more features in the AmigaOS, especially regarding network abilities and memory management. The development of the native RISC AmigaOS will be made internally at Amiga Technologies. An R&D department is currently being set up in Bensheim with sufficient engineers to meet the announced schedules. Former well known Commodore engineers as well as new competencies will join the team in Bensheim this year. This development project will also be involving a dozen companies in close partnership with Amiga Technologies GmbH. More good news for all Amiga users: The Power PC technology will not only be available for new Power Amigas. Thanks to a close co-operation between Amiga Technologies and Phase V, a German turbo board manufacturer, a full range of Power PC boards will also be available for the A1200, A3000 and A4000 series. This will allow a general migration of the Amiga platform towards Power PC in a short time, also for current models. First Power PC boards for current Amigas will be available before end of 1996. Amiga Technologies will be flexible in licensing the RISC Operating System as before so that a global solution will be available for all above mentioned Amiga computers. This is especially important for the foreseeable partnerships. The 68060 board for the Amiga 4000 T will be available during the first quarter of 1996 and will provide the power needed by applications like 3D rendering software, compilers and high-end graphics software. During 1996, new 68K based entry-level models will be available. These Amigas will be based on the A1200 platform, with faster processors, more memory expansion capacity and CD ROM expansion. Amiga Technologies is a 100% subsidiary of the ESCOM AG and is based in Bensheim, Germany. You are welcome on our WEB page for more information at http://www.amiga.de. CONTACT: Gilles Bourdin AMIGA Technologies Berliner Ring 89 D-64625 Bensheim Germany Tel +49 6252 709 195 Fax +49 6252 709 520 eMail: gbo@amiga.de Amiga is a registered trademark of ESCOM AG POWER PC is a registered trademark of IBM corporation @ENDNODE @NODE 2.11. "Dale's overview of Escom" |By: @{"Dale Poole" Link 8.3.}| Technical Editor Vents Spleen I've read Andreas Malerz' report on the Computer '95 show in Cologne. I've also read over some notes from Harv Laser on Comdex, and the 2nd Annual Video Toaster User Expo and you know, some questions have come up in my mind. I warn you, these questions are nothing you haven't already heard, but they bear repeating. As Andreas' report shows, there still appears to be lots of action on hardware and software for the Amiga, specifically for video freaks. As Harv tells us, Amiga Technologies has unveiled the future of Amigas CPUs and European sales of A1200's are booming. There have been many interviews, and Amiga Technologies has made an upbeat appearance at Comdex, selling more of the A1200. Things are looking good for the future, but I'm a little worried about the here and now. For the last six months I've been working for a small online advertising and marketing agency. They exclusively use those evil PCs. So, on a daily basis, I'm hip deep in Windows and all the 'fun' that goes with it. Like most Amigans, I find the hardware too damned persnickity and the operating system abominable. So why are there so many PCs in use? I think the answer is software. There isn't a database that gets anywhere near MicroSoft's Excel. I still can't find a decent spreadsheet for the Amiga. And because I'm stuck at v2.1 of the OS, I can't even cruise the Internet in glorious colour! What about games? Andreas discovered some interesting new software in Cologne, but also found out that the major portion of it won't be ported to the Amiga. It's nice to see that third party hardware is still a booming market for the Amiga, but what is going to drive the new Amigas into people's homes and offices? I'm happy to hear that Amiga Technologies has settled the Amiga CPU question, but I'd like to hear more about what's happening on the software side. Will there be native Amiga applications developed in parallel with the new hardware platform? Or are we going to have to rely on the existing field of software that is supposed to run on the new systems? How about the Amiga OS - just what will it be? I like the ability to point and click when it's handy, and then the command line when it's handy. Will that flexibility remain? In fact, how much of the WorkBench environment will be retained? Will the new OS fly on existing machines, or will we have to buy a new machine to take advantage of it? Will we be required to rip apart our machines every time an upgrade becomes available, or will the new architecture be open ended enough that some new software is all that will be required? Perhaps I'm jumping the gun. After all, Amiga Technologies has just confirmed what hardware direction it's headed in. The new 4000's are apparently still more than a year away and that should give software developers ample time to get back on board. Back to hardware and my last word. If there is one thing I learned with my A500, it's that I don't want another bloody wedgie case! Granted they are less expensive than their 'big brother' boxes, more appealing to home/recreational users (whoever the hell *they* are), and pretty much pack the same horse-power. However, the upgrade path for a wedgie case still sucks out loud, what, with misshapen harddisk plug-ons, motherboard mangling RAM add-ons and more cables and stupid AC adaptors than the average table/desk can accommodate. With all the hardware development going on, no one has come up with an intelligent design for wedgie upgrades. I'm not so sure such a thing can be done. A1200's in the wedgie case are driving Amiga sales right now making it hard to rationalize any criticism of them, but is that because the case is acceptable, or is it because they're the only Amigas in production right now, and those, only because they were the easiest machine to get tooled up for, in time for the big Christmas season? If any style of case is missing from the Amiga lineup, it's a laptop. I've heard all the arguments about colour displays being inadequate, blah blah blah. PC laptops seems to do just fine in colour or black and white, and I see no reason why Amiga Technologies' Gilles Bourdin has to shy away from photographs, for fear of being spotted using an IBM laptop. I use a black and white Toshiba laptop as I scoot from one client to the next. Sure the display sucks, and sure it's horrible old Windows, but I can't haul around either my A500 or A2500, so that laptop has become my most important business tool. As usual, with our beloved machine, there are more questions than answers. If I've sounded pessimistic, my apologies, but these critical times for the Amiga and Amiga Technologies continue and won't end any time soon. The good news is, Amiga Technologies seems to be making the type of decisions that formerly were paid no attention. I'm also encouraged that top-level staff for Amiga Technologies continue to make appearances at shows that attract all types of users. All I ask for now is new software, new machines, and that both be available here in North America. BTW, anyone know where I can get OS3.+ at less than $159 bucks? I remain, Daleus, Curmudgeon-at-Large @ENDNODE @NODE 2.12. "Upcoming Games list" Retrived from UseNet. List of upcoming & released games. Hi! Picked this up from a friend of mine... I think that it is interesting: LEGENDS KRISALIS September (FINISHED) KINGDOMS OF GERMANY KRISALIS/STARBYTE SCRAPPED CHARLIE J COOL RASPUTIN SCRAPPED BIG RED ADVENTURE CORE DESIGN SCRAPPED PITFALL MAYAN ADVENTUR ACTIVISION SCRAPPED PUTTY SQUAD A1200 SYSTEM 3 MID SEPTEMBER ANGST DEM SOFTWARE ON HOLD RUFFIAN GRANDSLAM SOFTWARE 2ND WEEK SEPTEMBER WHALES VOYAGE 2 NEO SEPTEMBER TFX A1200 OCEAN PROJECT PUT ON HOLD X-FIGHTER THALION VERY LATE 95 (REWRITTEN) WORMS TEAM 17 NOVEMBER EMPIRE SOCCER AGA EMPIRE CHRISTMAS AMBERMOON THALION SCRAPPED OBSESSION -AGA- UNIQUE DEVELOPMENTS NOVEMBER EVASIVE ACTION MINDSCAPE NO DECISION ON DEVELOPMENT ALL STARS TENNIS GAMEWAVE NOVEMBER THE BIG ENGINE KOMPART RELEASE UNDECIDED SUPER STREET TURBO GAMETEK CHRISTMAS/EARLY 1996 TIMEKEEPERS DATA DISK VULCAN DECEMBER POWERHOUSE IMPRESSIONS SCRAPPED COS OF SIERRA BUYING FRONT LINES IMPRESSIONS THEM OUT MICRO MACHINES II CODEMASTERS CD32 ONLY CHRISTMAS CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 2 DOMARK/INTELEK Christmas release LOST EDEN CD32 VIRGIN INTERACTIVE SEPTEMBER ODESSEY AUDIOGENIC OCTOBER FEARS MANYK 24TH AUGUST ANTS KELLION SCRAPPED (SHIT!) ZEEWOLF 2 BINARY ASYLUM NOVEMBER FINAL OVER CRICKET TEAM 17 OCTOBER F1 POLE POSITION ASCON OCTOBER GRAND PRIX TEAM MANAG KRISALIS SCRAPPED BALDIES MINDSCAPE OCTOBER PINBALL WORLD 21ST CENTURY EARLY 1996 WEMBLEY SOCCER 96 AUDIOGENIC 1996 CHAOS ENGINE II WARNER INTERACTIVE CHRISTMAS RELEASE (RECODED) PUSSIES GALORE TEAM 17 SCRAPPED FRONTIER 2 1ST ENCOUNT GAMETEK LATE SEPTEMBER SUPER LOOPZ AGA AUDIOGENIC LATE SEPTEMBER TURBO TRAX KOMPART 18 AUGUST FLIGHT OF AMAZON QUEEN RENEGADE SEPTEMBER 11 BREACH 3 IMPRESSIONS SCRAPPED EXTRACTORS MILLENIUM/PSYGNOSIS IMMINENT cd32 only ALIEN BREED 3D AGA TEAM 17 2ND WEEK SEPTEMBER TOTAL FOOTBALL DOMARK LATE OCTOBER TRACKSUIT MANAGER 2 ALTERNATIVE AUGUST 21ST LEADING LAP KELLION OCTOBER CONAN THE CONQUEROR ARCANE NOVEMBER SOFTWARE MANAGER KOMPART UNDECIDED SPERIS LEGACY TEAM 17 MID SEPTEMBER BUREAU 13 GAMETEK SCRAPPED LIMBO OF THE LOST CD32 MINDSCAPE CHRISTMAS PRIMAL RAGE WARNER INTERACTIVE LATE SEPTEMBER SIMON THE SORCEROR 2 ADVENTURESOFT SEPTEMBER EVILS DOOM KOMPART OCTOBER HILT KELLION NO DATE LOVE OF MONEY CD32 COBRA DEVELOPMENTS AUGUST STAR CRUSADER GAMETEK NOVEMBER EXILE A1200 AUDIOGENIC MID AUGUST COALA EMPIRE NOVEMBER PHOENIX - REUNION 2 GRANDSLAM CHRISTMAS CHESS THROUGH THE AGES KOMPART CHRISTMAS TINY TROOPS MINDSCAPE NOVEMBER BLITZ BOMBER LEADING EDGE NOVEMBER 7TH SWORD OF MENDOR GRANDSLAM DECEMBER BUBBLE AND SQUEAK II AUDIOGENIC RELEASE UNDECIDED TEAM IMPACT NOVEMBER OLDTIMER/MOTOR CITY KOMPART SCRAPPED ALTHO OUT IN GERMANY WHEELSPIN BLACK LEGEND NOVEMBER SWOS V1.2 RENEGADE NOVEMBER IMRAN KHAN'S CRICKET AUDIOGENIC SEPTEMBER DUNGEON MASTER II INTERPLAY SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER GUARDIAN ENHANCED AGA GUILDHALL LEISURE SEPTEMBER TANK ENGINE PINBALL ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS RELEASE ARCANE PINBALL ARCANE EARLY 1996 ARNIE KELLION NO DATE FOOTBALL GLORY INDOORS KOMPART CHRISTMAS RAGE ALTERNATIVE NO DATE RUGBY BOSS ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS SANTA WARS ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS OF COURSE :) SUBSTATON UNIQUE DEVELOPMENTS NOVEMBER SWITCHWORLD KOMPART NOVEMBER TRAITOR ALTERNATIVE SOFTWARE CHRISTMAS PLAYER MANAGER 2 AGA ANCO JAN 1996 FEARS 2 AGA MANYK 1996 @ENDNODE @NODE 2.13. "Colongne Expo : A review" Retrived from, you guessed it. The UseNet! :) WOA Cologne, day 1 (friday november 10th) We've just come back from the World of Amiga show in Cologne; in one word: MAGNIFICENT! The Amiga really is back. Our impressions are reported below. There were two halls: One for the Amiga, and one for the "other platforms" (PC, Mac, Acorn). The "other" hall was fairly quiet, and we visited the Amiga side mostly. Amiga Technologies logos and the much-advertised slogan "Back for the Future" were everywhere. A1200 Magic Packs were sold by many companies, as well as the new M1438S monitor. Although there was relatively little new software, the atmosphere was very upbeat--which was perfectly appropriate. We stopped at several stands for a closer look: AMIGA TECHNOLOGIES: AT had a big attractive-looking stand in the middle, manned exclusively by representatives of 3rd-party developers (4th Level Development, Haage & Partner, Interworks, and others) in cool black T-shirts with the AT logo. Machines were mostly high-end: Very sexy A4000Ts, all fitted with MagicWB and ethernet/arcnet/ graphics cards etc. Next to each machine was a summary of the goodies inside. There were also several A1200s showing off the I-Glasses, and even one with synthesizer keyboard for the musically inclined. The AT stand made a very fresh, bright, professional impression. While the machines were all equipped differently and manned by staff from different companies, the overall look was still consistent and well-organized. I would sure buy a computer from those people ;-) In any case, we bought some very flashy T-shirts with the new logo. Many people were wearing similar ones with the "Intel Outside" logo on the back, but I don't know where they got them. PHASE 5: Believe it or not, the Phase 5 stand had a real PowerPC development board! It contains two CPUs (68030 and a 604 PPC chip) and appears to be a prototype of the PowerUp card which should be available sometime next year at prices in the 1000-2000 DM price range. It will be available in both |603e and 604 versions. According to a leaflet we picked up, Phase 5 is porting Exec to native PPC code and other libraries will follow. Old programs will be run under 68k emulation. Partners mentioned ("we are not alone") include Softwood, Almathera and Maxon. Commercial developers are to receive their boards early '96. Also at the Phase 5 stand was the 2-GO! DSP card which combines four DSP processors with a 50 MIPS RISC controller and a 100 MFLOPS FPU. Internal data throughput is said to be 4.2 Gigabytes per second, external throughput is 32Mb (Zorro III). The card is supposed to execute 2 BILLION instructions per second! The card can be used for things like encoding or decoding JPEG pictures and MPEG animations, and realtime sound and graphics manipulations. Encoding a JPEG picture (res. 352*240) takes only 8 milliseconds! As the slogan said: "Where do you want to be tomorrow?" We also learned that the 3.0 release of CyberGraphX will include 3-D primitives. CyberGraphX 3.0 will also be available for the PowerUp & 2-GO! boards. MS MACROSYSTEM GMBH: These good people were showing off their 060-based Draco with the XiPaint graphics package which seemed to be selling like hotcakes. One machine was quietly mixing away at some real-time video input, while the eager masses were lining up to get the feel of Final Writer on another. It was quite an impressive sight; pages were flying by at a speed that must have been close to the monitor's refresh rate! One of our "mission objectives" was to find out whether WordPerfect will run on the Draco. The staff were very helpful and even let me run WP from my own disk, which I had brought along for this purpose. It gave us no trouble during our very brief test (although the representative told us this did depend on using Topaz 8 as the screen font) and felt very responsive and flashy compared to our "good old" WARPEngine/040/40! MacroSystem GmbH has nothing whatsoever to do, by the way, with either MacroSystem Development (of WARPEngine fame) or with the less well-known company MakroSystem. On the price list, curiously enough, was also a 33MHz "Draco 040" for DM |4495. The 060 version costs DM 5995, and includes CD-ROM and 4Mb of graphics memory. MUI 3.0: Tons of pamflets told us the new version of the Magical User Interface has now been released. It was available at Hirsch & Wolf's stand for DM 40. One of these little pamflets was actually the first thing we saw as we came up the stairs. Advertized features include Bubble Help, Drag-and-Drop and many that we've forgotten. We apologize. MAXON COMPUTER GMBH: We were much impressed by a video produced by Tobias Richter using their Cinema 4D product range. Some of this stuff even looked better than Babylon 5! The package is being ported to Mac and Windows, and a small demo rendering on the PowerMac of a spiral staircase and a few smaller objects took just a few seconds; the Windows port wasn't as far along yet. For good measure we asked to see a demonstration of their C++ compiler as well, but they weren't really planning to give any. Unfortunately no free demo version was available either. Casually mentioning our plans to write a report on our experiences *almost* worked miracles: On the verge of giving us a free copy including manuals, manager Harald Schneider finally understood that we were not writing for a magazine. More on this below. HAAGE & PARTNER: Out of the blue, there is a shiny new C/C++ compiler for the Amiga! It's called StormC and comes with a very intuitive graphical user interface. There appears to be some kind of relationship with Maxon, which Maxon's manager didn't seem very eager to discuss--mostly due to being in a hurry, I must add. We got ourselves a preview version of StormC and plan to post a review later on; unfortunately we won't be able to compare it to Maxon's compiler. Perhaps I dropped the term "c.s.a.misc" a little too casually, giving the manager the false impression that this was a magazine we were writing for (oh well, if ever we do start an Amiga magazine I guess CSA Misc would be as good a name as any other). There was some confusion as to the relationship between StormC and Maxon C++; according to one Maxon representative, StormC was based on the Maxon compiler. He even told us that some requesters in StormC used the name Maxon in stead of StormC, but searching the entire preview distribution for that word yielded nothing. Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding. The Haage & Partner representative said they had been working on StormC for just under a year with a team of five programmers, but it was easier because they used a lot of "older" code--whatever that may mean. At any rate, the compiler looks GREAT! It has intelligent Drag-and-Drop, clickable error messages, easy project management, an editor with syntax highlighting, a debugger which interacts with the editor, and even resource tracking. If SAS comes back (and I hope they will) they could face some stiff competition from this newcomer. That's all folks. After today, there can be no doubt that AT is serious about the Amiga! Jeroen Vermeulen Hans Guijt jtv@xs4all.nl h.guijt@inter.nl.net @ENDNODE @NODE 2.14. "Speech at Kolen" AT speech #2 at Kolen Koln 11/11 Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you very much for attending this software evening, it is nice to see so many people interested in developing software on the Amiga. Amiga Technologies began as a production company in May 1995. Its goal was then to ramp up the production of Amiga computers to bring them back onto the market. We have done it. Then, as soon as the products were available, Amiga Technologies evolved to a computer sales company to distribute its products world-wide. We had to meet the demand that has been waiting for more than one year. We have done it. Now, Amiga is turning into a true Computer manufacturer, we are finally building up our Research and Development team in Bensheim. We are hiring former Commodore engineers as well as new talented people to be able to respect the announced schedules for the Power Amiga. Lets do it! Ladies and Gentlemen, we want to show our commitment to the Amiga platform, not as a quick money maker for the Christmas season, but as one of the most important strategic challenges in the ESCOM group. Amiga shall become the best platform for Multimedia, 3D software, graphics processing, Internet and many more applications. The software market is always looking for powerful platforms. Especially 3D software needs great amounts of MIPS. This is going to be addressed first with the 060 board that we will market in early 96. Then, in 1st quarter 97, the Power PC 604 will replace the 060 in the new high-end model. Of course, the operating system will have to be ported to the new RISC-Processor. This will be done internally at Amiga Technologies by our R&D department. In the meantime, there will also be new products based on the A1200 concept. We plan to present the A1200 + in May. This model will feature either the Coldfire processor from Motorola, or the 68030 at 40 MHz. SIMM sockets will be integrated directly on the motherboard to allow easy memory expansion. The A1200 + is scheduled for the CEBIT in March 96. Another product will be the black box. This is a set top box that will feature an enhanced A1200 core, along with all connectors needed for communication, printing, audio in and out and a remote control. It will have a HI-FI-like design that will be created by Frog design. The product will of course be equipped with a CD ROM drive and a floppy disk drive. We are also making an Internet package with all software needed to become an unbeatable surfer. These networking features are planned to be part of the OS in a near future. It will first be marketed as a complete package including modem and cables, with the software preinstalled on the harddrive. A plug and play solution. We also plan the Q-Drive to be available shortly after the fair. This quad speed CD ROM drive plugs into the PCMCIA connector and is provided with software to enable it to play CD 32 titles. Ladies and Gentlemen, as you can see, the Amiga family will become larger very soon. To welcome these products that will without doubt be very successful on the market, we want to encourage you to produce software for them. We now have a developer support set up and running. Let me tell you a few words about its organisation. There will be a secured section on the WEB server, only accessible to registered developers. The address of the WEB server is www.amiga.de We will have two types of developers: Non-commercial and commercial developers. To become a non-commercial developer, the candidate has to show an existing program or product, even public domain. The annual fee is 100 USD. For becoming a commercial developer, one has to provide proof of a commercial product, either completed or in advanced stage of development. The fee for becoming a commercial developer is 300 USD a year. Former registered Commodore developers will have to register again with Amiga Technologies. This is necessary for us because we do not have the complete Commodore developer database and also because an Amiga Technologies NDA has to be signed. All developers will also have access to the beta versions of the AMIGA OS for testing purposes, they will have access to development tools, to hardware documentation and to our restricted newsgroups. Developers will also have special purchase conditions on Amiga hardware. There will also be a periodical newsletter. The support for developers will be accessible from the Internet and through a closed network as in former Commodore times. If you have further questions about software support, you are welcome to ask after the session. We know that there are many people who are convinced that Amiga is the best system and those people believe in the Amiga platform as well as we do. This, Ladies and Gentlemen is very encouraging for us. I believe that most of the people attending here are Amiga enthusiastic and am glad to see such a strong commitment. There is one thing I would like to tell you: write software for the Amiga, Amiga will help you to do this. We managed to revive the Amiga hardware Now it's to you, together with us, to revive its software. Negotiations with many software houses world-wide have started. Our common goal should be to strengthen the Amiga software platform for the future. Please take this message: Amiga is working tightly together with hardware companies to get new extensions, license our technology and create new exciting products. We are motivated by the success we had with our current models and look forward to bring you new products very soon. Thank you for your attention. Speech done by Petro Tyschtschenko. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.15. "Speech at Cologne by M.Schmitt" Just in case you do not know who Manfred is, he is the CEO of Escom. [Manfred Schmitt speaking at the Amiga-Messe during Computer '95 in Cologne - [11/11/95] Ladies and Gentlemen, Since we have many guests from outside of Germany here, this conference is going to be held in English. My name is Manfred Schmitt, I am founder and chairman of ESCOM AG. I would like to welcome you to this software evening and also thank you very much for attending. You surely all know ESCOM as one of the leading PC retailers in Europe. In the past fiscal year 1994, we had a turnover of 1.85 billion Deutschmarks, employed 2300 people and sold 410.000 PC's throughout Europe. With 450 outlets, we cover 9 european countries. Core markets are Germany, where we run some 140 shops, and Great Britain. In the UK, we are the biggest dedicated PC retailer with 200 shops by the end of the year. But PC dealer is no longer the appropriate term that characterizes our business. Our strategy is changing from a mere PC retailer into a multimedia company. And on this path, the acquisition of the intellectual property of Commodore and Amiga half a year ago was an important milestone. You surely might confirm that Amiga is a leverage for the growing multimedia market. And you might also ask me what the guys from ESCOM have done in the past months with the Amiga and what they are going to do in the near future. Amiga Technologies has grown to a small but efficient multinational company and now employs 40 people. The Amiga product range is back on the market as announced and distributed in more than 20 countries. This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the result of the determination, motivation and competence from the Amiga team, led by Petro Tyschtschenko and Stefan Domeyer. The plans have been respected. Congratulations to all of them. We all know, the Amiga is an amazing computer. It is even more than just a computer. It is an institution with user groups, a community, fans and even lovers. There are Amiga-fairs, Amiga-magazines, Amiga clubs, even T-shirts and tea cups ! Usually, in the computer business, when the leading product disappears, the market collapses immediately. The Amiga was gone for one and a half year but the market, even if it shrunk a bit, was still there and remained significant. This is something that is quite remarkable. It shows the quality of the Amiga-concept and the dedication of the user-base. I think that some of our competitors are underestimating the power and potential of what the name Amiga represents. We do not. We perfectly know what we have and believe me, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to make something out of it! The Amiga is not only gifted by its user-community, it also has one of the best developer bases. Public domain and shareware programs on the Amiga are better and the quantity available is unmatched on other platforms. The utility of such a developer community dedicated to the Amiga is evident. It provides good software and very often, commercial products emerge and expand the software-market. This is something essential and therefore, developer support is one of our top-priorities. It will be mainly available as on-line services via Web pages or FTP servers. We intend to simplify as much as possible the certification procedures. Please feel free to ask for information during the fair at our booth or later this evening during the questions and answer session. The person to contact is Mr Hohmann. We also set up contacts with software-editing companies to make sure that their development for Amiga products is resumed. New contacts to non-Amiga editors are also on our todo list. Since we started-up the Amiga operations, there have been several rumours about our future plans. One of these rumours said that Amiga is just a quick shot for the Christmas season and that the project would be dropped shortly afterwards. Ladies and gentlemen, this is most certainly a dream of the competition! Indeed, Amiga is not a short-term project, it is a strategic element in our multimedia strategy as I mentionned before. To give the Amiga the future it deserves, as a major platform for Multimedia, video and 3D applications, it is necessary to upgrade its present capacities. That's why we have decided to leave the Motorola 68000 range of processors and upgrade the system with the power PC processor next year. The future machines will of course run with Amiga OS. The choice of the Power PC was made for its speed, and also because it is actually the only RISC processor that is currently used in personal computers, which will insure us that needed quantities will be available at attractive prices on a mass market. Amiga OS is actually what makes the strength of the platform it runs on. We are aware that we have an operating system that has real multitasking from the beginning without the need of excessive amounts of memory like other operating systems. This is the reason why we will concentrate on improving and porting Amiga OS to other processors. It is the best way to enlarge the installed base and to gain market shares over Windows and Macintosh systems. The implementation of the Power PC processor will be a first step in that direction. Later, this processor will replace the 68000 chips in the rest of the Amiga product range. This is possible thanks to the range of versions that Motorola provides, from the 602 up to the 604. Multimedia does not only mean sound and Animation but also communication. We will use the Amiga-technology to provide very cost effective on-line solutions. These can be marketed as set-top boxes or as Amiga computers equipped with the necessary hard- and software. To be a player in the on-line market, one has also to provide on-line-services like Web pages or FTP servers for the Internet. This has already been done for Amiga, Commodore and ESCOM. Our customers can now use the Internet to find information and support for the computer they are using. The actual computer market is widely occupied by Intel and Microsoft platforms. We think that this combination is not satisfying for all uses. There is a strong market for the home computing below 1000 DM. For Internet surfing, spending 2500 DM for a PC is not what I would call a home oriented solution. These are definitely market segments where the Amiga 1200 can be more competitive. Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope that this meeting will be a start-up for a good co-operation between Amiga Technologies and software publishers. Thank you for your attention. @ENDNODE @NODE 2.16. "Speech by Petro.T at Solectron" Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests Good afternoon... Welcome to our first press conference here with Solectron and thank you very much for attending. Let me introduce myself, my name is Petro Tyschtschenko, I am the president at Amiga Technologies GmbH. I have the great pleasure to be here to tell you about the backgrounds of the Amiga rebirth. Amiga is back, back for the future. It finally happened ! Amiga is back on the market. This was an amazing task to accomplish and many people from several companies helped to make impossible things possible. I would like to thank the people from Solectron for their involvement, their competence and professionalism. What they achieved in the last two months is truly an exceptional logistic performance. I would also like to thank Motorola for their precious help and cooperation in making the rebirth of the Amiga possible. Thanks to Mitsumi for supplying us just in time our special Amiga keyboards. Thank you also to Microvitec, who I believe provided us the best Amiga monitor ever. As you can see, the Amiga project involved several companies in a remarkable team and the ambitious goal was reached in time. Our Amiga story began in 1985. The first Amiga was presented in New York. Since then, it has established itself as the platform of those who want true multitasking and integrated Multimedia. More, ladies and gentlemen than just typing letters or numbers on a PC. Amiga Technologies GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of ESCOM AG. ESCOM AG is a public company. 25 % belongs to Quelle, 10 % to Siemens-Nixdorf, 12,5 % to RWE, 38,5 % to Manfred Schmitt, founder and chairman of the board, 14 % split to other shareholders. Amiga Technologies GmbH was founded in May 1995. We are a young company but we already have historical dates : here is the first Amiga 1200 board made by Solectron. which I just received from Mister Gallant. It came out of the line on the 13th of September |1995. A rebirth in France. To be quite honest this one was faulty, it had two condensators soldered with reverse polarity. This board functioned only a few minutes. But the error was recognized quickly... fixed... and for the forthcoming boards, all tests passed successfully. Be aware: For all machines, we do systematic testing on each unit. Now lets talk about the story of the Amiga rebirth: Everything began in June |1995, after ESCOM AG acquired the rights to the Amiga Technology from the former Commodore company. I went to the Far East first to the Philippines, Cavite, the city where the old Commodore company had a manufacturing facility. My goal was to make sure that we could get the component stocks left there by Commodore. Everything there was an enormous mess and nightmare, nothing was organized. I have had first doubts that we never could do it at all. June: raining season in the Philippines Typhoons time and floods. Pinatubo ? quiet, thank god. But I didn't give up and with the help of Mr. Gwynne Thomas, who I'd like to thank for the wonderful job he made, we succeeded in making things move in this complicated component business. Taylor made Amiga components were gathered together through liquidators all around the world and shipped from the Far East to Europe and the USA. It was really a difficult task. Originally, it was planned to produce Amigas in the United Kingdom, because there were people there that had great experience with Amiga production. But we finally decided to go for a partnership with Solectron here in France. We didn't leave the UK though, since we have our partner Microvitec for Monitors. Our M1438S monitor has already been celebrated by the Amiga-press for its perfect compatibility with Amiga video-modes. There will be a press conference in Bradford on the 17th of October to celebrate this cooperation. Bordeaux is perfect for us. Not only the wine, we also appreciate the pleasant surroundings and the competencies of the people at Solectron. Solectron, maybe you have noticed this already, won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, which guaranteed us that our machines would be reliable. Now that the first units went over the shelves and that we get the first positive impressions from our customers, we know that we have made the right choice. I have learned here in Bordeaux: "impossible n'est pas Solectron". Our Amiga production that has been set to 100.000 units for the three last months of 1995 is already sold out in preorders. All these machines will be produced in Bordeaux. We are pleased by the demand from our dealers. We are also pleased to hear from the Amiga press that they are flooded with phone calls from people who want to know where they can get Amigas. To satisfy this demand, our logistic system is working perfectly. We can ship directly from Bordeaux to our different customers. Indeed, with such a system, we are a sales company and not a warehouse company. This enables us to keep down stock costs to a minimum. Ladies and gentlemen, as I said before, this is a very special day for my team and myself, we are proud that we did it. I am very satisfied of the people at Amiga Technologies, who were available anytime during four months to help building up our company. In spite of all the rumors spread by doomsayers on the market, we respected the schedules and the Amiga is back as promised. I would also like to thank the Amiga press for their support and the Amiga users for their endless patience. @ENDNODE @NODE 3. "Distribution sites" AmigaLink is distributed through the WWW, FTP, and several networks. We are re-routing bbs distribution at this time. See below. @{" USA " Link 3.1.} @{" Canada " Link 3.2.} @{" Austrailia " Link 3.3.} @{" Europe " Link 3.4.} @{" FTP site " Link 3.5.} @{" Telnet " Link 3.6.} @{" WWW " Link 3.7.} @{" ADS file network " Link 3.8.} @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1. "USA" USA BBS'es @{" Amiga_Lynx BBS " Link 3.1.1.} @{" Amiga and Ibm Only BBS " Link 3.1.2.} @{" The Kobayashi Alternative BBS " Link 3.1.3.} @{" Pup-Tek BBS " Link 3.1.4.} @{" StarShip CUCUG " Link 3.1.5.} @{" Gnomes GuestHouse " Link 3.1.6.} @{" Eyes Of time " Link 3.1.7.} @{" Trade "N" Post " Link 3.1.8.} @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.1. "Amiga_Lynx BBS" Amiga_Lynx BBS BBS#:201-368-0463 FidoNet: 1:2604/110.0 Hackensack, NJ @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.2. "Amiga and Ibm Only BBS" Amiga and Ibm only BBS BBS#: (619)-477-2375 National City, CA @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.3. "The Kobayashi Alternative BBS" The Kobayashi Alternative BBS BBS #: (207) 784-2130 Telnet address(es): TKA.COM/204.117.63.1(IP #) Sysop name/handle: Limahl Auburn ME USA @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.4. "Pup-Tek BBS" Pup-Tek BBS BBS #: (702) 553-2403 Sysop name/handle: Darkwolf Beatty, NV USA @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.5. "StarShip CUCUG" StarShip CUCUG BBS #: (217) 356-8056 Sysop name/handle: Kevin Hisel Champaign, IL USA @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.6. "Gnomes GuestHouse" Gnomes GuestHouse BBS BBS #: (405) 448-5713 Sysop name/handle: G.O.D. smith Telnet: gnomes.org/205.149.166.40 San Jose, CA USA (Amiga/Ibm/Mac/C64) (lots of message bases) @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.7. "Eyes Of time" Eyes of Time BBS Sysop: Piper Telnet: eyesoftime.com/198.6.201.206 Maine @ENDNODE @NODE 3.1.8. "Trade "N" Post" Trade "N" Post BBS BBS #: (718)-847-4439 Sysop: Cyborg Telnet address: 206.100.110.100/bbs.tnp.com @ENDNODE @NODE 3.2. "Canada" @{" GfxBase BBS " Link 3.2.1.} @ENDNODE @NODE 3.2.1. "GfxBase BBS" GfxBase BBS BBS #: (514) 769-0565 Sysop: Unknown Montreal, Quebec Canada (Ami/Ibm/Mac support) |28.8bps speeds @ENDNODE @NODE 3.3. "Austrailia" @{" The Brisbane Pinnacle " Link 3.3.1.} @{" North West Amiga BBS " Link 3.3.2.} @{" Verbal Verbatim " Link 3.3.3.} @ENDNODE @NODE 3.3.1. "The Brisbane Pinnacle" Steve Elwood The Brisbane Pinnacle BBS #: +61-07-3419560 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Fido: 3:640/308 C-LINK AUSTRALIAN HUB @ENDNODE @NODE 3.3.2. "North West Amiga BBS" North West Amiga BBS Sysop: Unknown Victoria, Australia BBS #: +61 3 9337 3428 mozza@nwamiga.apana.org.au @ENDNODE @NODE 3.3.3. "Verbal Verbatim" Verbal Verbatim BBS#: +61-7-3396-4054 Brisbane @ENDNODE @NODE 3.4. "Europe" @{" Finland " Link 3.4.1.} @ENDNODE @NODE 3.4.1. "Finland" @{" Amiga-Night-System BBS " Link 3.4.1.1.} @ENDNODE @NODE 3.4.1.1. "Amiga-Night-System BBS" Amiga-Night-System BBS Sysop: Unknown --FINLAND-- BBS #:+358-0-675840 luumu@fenix.tipnet.fi @ENDNODE @NODE 3.5. "FTP site" gnomes.org aminet.com @ENDNODE @NODE 3.6. "Telnet" AmigaLink can be also found at: TKA.COM/204.249.252.100 Gnomes.org/205.149.166.40 bbs.tnp.com/206.100.110.100 eyesoftime.com/205.149.166.40 @ENDNODE @NODE 3.7. "WWW" http://gnomes.org/amigalink/ http://mm.itt.uni-miskolc.hu/data/al/ P.S. We need some other WWW sites to link our site to your's, If you wish to distribute/link to it, Please e-mail the Editor-In-Chief for details, But hurry after we get 10 sites we will discontinue asking for other links. @ENDNODE @NODE 3.8. "ADS file network" (Fidonet) The ADS network is a network of many Amiga based bbs'es around the world. So AmigaLink is currently worldwide in addition to distribution on FTP sites, and several bbs'es. @ENDNODE @NODE 4. "We Need You!" To write an article for us you do not need to be a Brain Surgeon, Or a Journalist. You only need to be normal, Most people think writing is hard, It never is. All you need is enough knowledge of how to spell and where to put the words :). We accept all kinds of articles that are amiga-related only. Exceptions can and will be made. Software Publishers: You may send us products or press releases to review, E-mail the Editor-In-Chief for details. Editor's Last note : We love to get new products... If you include pictures we will tag them along with the magazine if you like, Free of charge... A free sample of the software would be great for us to review through. Programmers: Do you wish to announce a new program? E-mail the Editor-In-Chief For details. Editor's Last note: If you wish to send us something, First tell John Vlachos what you will be uploading... @ENDNODE @NODE 5. "Editors picks" |AmigaReport| AmigaReport has proved that it is one of the best online amiga magazines(Besides AmigaLink of course :). Jason Compton, Editor-In- Chief is well known for up-to-date news. Check it out sometime! |Text2Guide| Text2Guide is an excellent guide constructer, It only requires you to learn a couple of commands. Created by Stephan Surken. |The Amiga| From the A1000 to the A1200... Amiga's were always ahead of their time, Even now when Ibm, and Mac's are catching up the Amiga still leaves them to trail behind. Even through the Amiga has not been so popular, I believe it will be. People will discover the magic of the Amiga, And leave their other computer to collect dust. @ENDNODE @NODE 6. "Legal Stuff" (C) 1995 JOHN VLACHOS (C)1995 AMIGALINK MAGAZINE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The views expressed in this magazine are not neccasarily those of John Vlachos or nor anyone related to them. Amiga Link and the articles in it are not to be copied in anyway without John Vlachos express written con- sent AmigaLink may be freely distributed on any BBS or online services as long as it is still in it's original archive and form. Public Domain resellers may sell Amiga Link for a maximum of $4.50 or £3.00,or in any currency as long as the amounts are equal to those, using t he exchange rates of the issue's date. You may not use Amiga Link in any other way than putting it on BBSs and reading it, and selling it for the amounts specified. If you wish to use Amiga Link or an article in it for something else, you must first contact the editor. Amiga Link is not affiliated with Escom AG. And/or Amazing Amiga com. or any other Amiga publications. 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, unless specified otherwise. @ENDNODE @NODE 7. "Letters" @ENDNODE @NODE 8. "Our Staff" This is the list for whom wrote this month, And who helps out with the magazine. @{" John Vlachos " Link 8.1.} @{" Kelly Cochran " Link 8.2.} @{" Dale Poole " Link 8.3.} @{" Aaron Mell " Link 8.4.} @ENDNODE @NODE 8.1. "John Vlachos" ========================================================================= = Editor-In-Chief John Vlachos Founder = ========================================================================= |Internet| static@rockpile.com |FidoNet| John Vlachos@1:2604/110.0 Most telnet bbs'es my handle is "John Vlachos", On IRC my handle is static, JohnVlach, J.Vlachos, or John. Im very friendly so please don't be shy, I love to meet readers! @ENDNODE @NODE 8.2. "Kelly Cochran" ========================================================================= = Kelly Cochran = = Director of WWW distribution = ========================================================================= |Internet| trolan@gnomes.org Editor's notes: Hmm, An expert at WWW. Kelly knows all these HTML commands that are frustrating. Kelly can also be found at Gnomes Guesthouse(See bbs list ) by the handle of "Trolan". @ENDNODE @NODE 8.3. "Dale Poole" ========================================================================= = Dale Poole = = Technical Editor = ========================================================================= |Internet| dpoole@cycor.ca Editor's notes: A well qualified writer, Gets to the point! @ENDNODE @NODE 8.4. "Aaron Mell" ========================================================================== = Games Editor = = Aaron Mell = ========================================================================== |Internet| airhog@ionet.net Editor's comments: A decent writer, stays on the point. @ENDNODE @NODE 9. "Ads" Monthly $15.00 per screen of 80-column text. We don't hide our prices, we expose them. We can also display gifs/iff's at a little more(depending on size), contact @{"John Vlachos" Link 8.1.} for more info. Quarterly($10.00 off original price) $50.00 per screen of 80-column text. Yearly ($20.00 off original price) $100.00 per screen of 80-column text. More? Contact @{"John Vlachos" Link 8.1.} @{" The Rockpile system " Link 9.1.} @ENDNODE @NODE 9.1. "The Rockpile system" ROCK PILE BBS Full Service Internet Access Provider The Rock Pile BBS 11+Years |32 28,800 dial in lines, more being added each month |201-941-7778 Telnet: rockpile.com http://rockpile.com Chat, Games, Files, Telnet, FTP, Gopher and much more. Dedicated Internet feeds, 28,800, 56K, ISDN, T1's World Wide Web Servers and pages, Secure transactions, stats and cgi's. |800 Voice Support. It's all here in one place and best of all we offer FREE Internet access! Editor's comments: This is the system I use for access on the intern- et, Its a VERY fast system, Complete with many online games and users Special now: For ten dollars get 2 months for the price of one for FULL complete access. @ENDNODE