Conference 7.286::atarist

    See note 535!
    
    
    				Jamie.

    re .1
    
    Jamie,
    
    	I don't think we are talking about the same new Atari computer.
    Note #535 is talking about a low cost system. I'm talking about the new
    ST PLUS or TT, not to be confused with the ATW. The ST PLUS or TT will
    have a 68030, 2-4 MB of memory, resolution of 1200 X 900 (close to that
    at least). 
    
    	The ST PLUS or TT will be announced at a show in Germany August
    25th...
    
    								-mike-

     RE: < Note 573.2 by ASPEN2::BOIKO "Is this Heaven..No, it's Iowa.." >
    
>    I'm talking about the new
>    ST PLUS or TT, not to be confused with the ATW. 


     FYI

     these names are not synonomous (sp?) ST stands for Sixteen/Thirtytwo
     this is the architecture of the 68000.  The TT (EDITORIAL: if it ever
     shows) is based on the 68030 which has a Thirtytwo/Thirtytwo bit
     architecture. Thus the TT.

     Bill Powers
     

    re .3
    
    	It's been so long since I bought my first ST (Sept 85), that I
    forgot the origin of the ST name, vs the new proposed TT/68030...Oh
    well.
    
    	Now back to my original question, has anyone heard about this Aug
    25th announcement of the TT in Germany?
    
    								-mike-
    
    	

    Hi 
    
    All the Atari journals here are stating the same rumour, That Atari
    have "booked" a big press release for that day, and they will be
    announcing, at this point the rumours diverge, some talk about the ST
    plus, a 68000 m/c with enhanced Graphics, ala Amiga, and with a super
    mega sampled stereo sound channels. The other rumours concerned the
    fabled TT unix box.  
    
    You pays your money and takes your choice, but dont hold your breath,
    the Lap top still hasnt surfaced in the UK yet, it reputedly is on sale
    in Scandinavia, (anyone confirm this gem, (pun)). 
    
    At the last "ATARI" show held in the UK, Guess who didnt show up !!!!!
    The punters, (including me) who were pissed at Atari, signed a
    petition, several thousand names, Complaining that now Atari had our
    money, how about some support. Atari's response was that "They had not
    realised that there was anything wrong with their support, and they
    promised to be good boys in future". Pigs might fly!!
    
    TTFN
    
    Pat K.

    Hi
    
    I'm going to attend the German Atari show this weekend in
    Duesseldorf/West-Germany. As soon as possible i'll post any
    news/details about new machines into this note ...
    
    So keep waiting for a few days longer, perhaps rumours change into
    facts ...
    
    -Helmut  [ atari_fan_waiting_for_the_big_surprise ]

    re .6
    
    	We can only hope...thanks Helmut.
    
    					-mike-

I'm more interested in what I can buy, not only see at shows, but please
do make a report.

thanks

Chad

Hi fellow Atari-Friends

Here my short report of my visit of the Atari exibition in Duesseldorf/
West Germany on 26-Aug-89 :

I'll tell you in short what i have seen and discovered, if anyone is interested
in more details or other aspects not mentioned here feel free to ask under this
topic.
I'm going to answer all questions if i'm able to.

Official announcements from Atari :
===================================

1) ATARI TT

- CPU 68030 , MMU , instruction+data cache on chip , 16 MHz
- 2MB memory expandable to 8MB ( 26MB with 4Mbit DRAM's )
- 512KB ROM , optional co-processor MC68881/68882
- interfaces : centronics , 2X async. , MIDI , ACSI-DMA , SCSI , SDLC/LAN (!!)
- hardware-clock , 8-bit pcm stereo sound 
- internal hard disk optional ( this states the data sheet, ??? )
- VME-bus slot ( announced for this : ethernet,graphic-expansion,terminal mux )
- video : RGB- and monochrome
          all ST - modes ( with 4096 colors available ) plus
                              320 x 480  256 colors out of 4096
                              640 x 480   16 colors out of 4096
                             1280 x 960  monochrome mode
- Software :  compatible to old ST models !!!
              UNIX system V will be available
              X Windows
              graphic shell using the x windows interface for unix

I couldn't manage to get an official shipping date or some information on
pricing, sorry .

2) ATARI STE

This is the well hidden secret of Atari. In my opinion it is the attack against
AMIGA ... ( original sound in the data sheet : " ... now the fun begins ... ,
.. all a young computerfan needs ... )

The STE is the well known ST 1040 with the following new features :

- possible colors increased to 4096
- 8 bit stereo-pcm sound ( you read about the TT ? )
- hardware horizontal/vertical scrolling ( hey, Amiga ... )
- external genlock-interface possible
- up to six joysticks/lightguns/lightpens possible
- new TOS ( something like TOS 1.4 )

Shipping will begin in october 89 here in Germany, the price will be around
DM 1.500,-  .


3) New ATARI Portable Color Entertainment System

- 4096 colors , LCD Screen , 3D effects , 16 MHz processor
- truly portable
- 4 channel sound
- more information on request ...



There are some informations about STACY/PC5-EURIX/Portfolio/ATW, but they
seem not very new to me.


Non Atari products :

1) IBM hardware emulator "PC-Speed"

There is a new hardware emulator with the following features :

- soldered to the cpu inside all models
- uses atari-memory
- harddisk support
- supports external 3.5 and 5.25 floppy's
- supports parallel and serial ports and the atari mouse
- sound possible
- Norton factor 4.0
- 704 KB memory under DOS
- emulates CGA and Hercules

One of my nephews bought one of those nice little gadgets; the same day he
succeeded in getting it up and running. It consists of a little printed
circuit board with a NEC V30 processor, some bus drivers and two gate arrays.
Also you get some software to start the emulator.

The price is DM 598,- , and believe it or not, i've seen lots of them beeing
sold. By the way, this is a development by a small company in Germany.

Beeing fair, i have to tell you that i've also seen the long announced
emulator "Supercharger". It stood outside the computer and was connected
to the DMA-Port. It comes with 512 KB of memory and costs DM 798,- .
Sorry to say i didn't see one of them beeing sold, so judge yourself ...


Last but not least : 

There is a small softwarehouse here in Germany which announced a X-Window
server for the Atari ST . Being a nice graphic device, this seemed to me
inevitable. Perhaps this will push the X idea ...
If i get more information about this i will post it here.


This concludes my report, I hope you enjoyed it. I've seen a lot more software
to report about, but this would be too much for this place.


Helmut   [atari_fan_overloaded_with_new_information] 

Helmut,

Thanks for the info that many of us have been waiting for!

A few questions:

  1) How big were the TT and STE, and what did they look like?

  2) The TT is supposed to come with an optional higher quality keyboard.
     Was there any mention of that, and what was the shown keyboard like?

  3) Did the TT have any graphics hardware chip to speed up graphics
     operations, like the blitter, or the "blossom" chip in the ATW?
     Or, in general, how much faster would graphics applications run
     on the TT compared to the ST?

    Answers to .10
    
    1) The STE looks exactly like a 1040 ST, I think they use the 1040
       enclosure.
       The TT is said to come in two variations :
       #1 - something like a Mega ST with a funny looking stand, this
            is the one I've seen. Included is a 1.4 MB Floppy Disk.
            At the right side seemed to be hard disk.
       #2 - a tower version which I didn't see ...   
    
       Rumours say that the #1 version is *definitly* not Unix !
       ( I can see no reason why )
    
    2) The TT comes with a detached keyboard, which seemed to me being
       the standard Mega ST keyboard.
    
    3) There is no hint in the data sheets concerning a new graphic
       chip. Seeing 4096 colors and hardware vertical/horizontal
       scrolling in the STE seems to me, that the STE imported those
       features from the TT. So I hope the TT will have those features
       also.
    
       There is a statement concerning speed in an official Atari
       publication : "Due to the clock-speed of 16 MHz and true 32 bit
       memory there will be an overall increase in speed by the
       factor  *four*  . Using a special technique the graphic-subsystem
       will see the systemmemory not 32 bit but 64 bit wide."
    
    I hope this could enlighten the whole story a little bit ...
    
    -Helmut  [ fiddling_with_the_data_sheets ]

Some remarks about the TT and STE at the D�sseldorf exebition:

- The case of the TT is very unusal. It is flat. That meens for me, there are 
  no expansion slots inside. The case has room for a 3" harddisk inside.
- The keybord looks like the Mega-Keybord, but it is brighter; so it is 
  possibel, that ATARI has an other supplier for it. The models in D�sseldorf 
  didn't have keys for european languages (��� ..); does it mean, that ATARI 
  will sell the TT first in the states or UK ?
- The monitor of the TT was not an ATARI SM1224; maybe it was an EIZO
  multiscan. Does it mean, the TT needs a special new monitor ? 
- The STE has a new PCB. The RAMs are in slots (SIMM?). I didn't saw a carrier 
  for the blitter; maybe the blitter has an new design ? The STE has a clock 
  inside. 

    
    Hello,
    
    this is Peter. I am new at QA Frankfurt/Germany and I have some news
    about the TT. A friend of mine works with Atari Germany and he told
    me that there are no TT-machines available at the company at this time.
    They should come in November and delivered to developers as soon as
    possible. The first machines should come to the dealer in Febuary 1990
    at a price of 5000 to 6000DM for the small TT. New soft should be
    available from the developers. Old soft should run at 80%, e.g. Calamus
    works without any bugs.
    That is all guys, I try to keep you up with new infos,
    
                                Peter.
    

Here is the latest Atari TT advertisment, found in a computer mag.
(c't Magazin fuer Computertechnik, 12/90)
I try to translate it from German as good as I can:



START

 1. The new Atari TT is one of the fastest Microcomputers in the World.
    Equipped with a MC68030

 2. The 32bit processor works with a clock frequency of 32MHz

 3. The TT has a main memory of 4 - 26 MB RAM. Designed for profesional users
    e.g. DTP, CAD or technical and scientifical applications

 4. Because of the use of RAM-modules the main memory can be expanded

 5. In the TT there work two memories:
    a.) the "Common Memory", in first grade for video and interface functions
    b.) the "TT-RAM" which is for data processing only. That means an increase
        of 20% in speed

 6. To enhance the TT's calculating speed it comes standard with the 
    mathematical coprocessor MC68882 (32MHz)

 7. It uses the operating system TOS 030 with mouse control and ...

 8. Icons make the TT userfriendly

 9. The operating system resides in ROM

10. The TT works with a "windowing" environment with a bunch of exclusive
    features, e.g. positioning of programs on the desktop, shortcuts which
    means individual key-macros for often used functions

11. The TT works with different operating systems and emulators:
    e.g. OS 9 (Microware)

12. MS-DOS (Microsoft/Vortex)

13. Smalltalk (ParkPlace Systems/Heeg)

14. MacIntosh (Apple Inc., Gadgets by Small)

15. RTOS (Heinz Heise GmbH)

16. EUMEL (GMD)

17. All TTs are prepared to work with UNIX

18. A special ergonomic keyboard was designed for the TT

19. The TT works with a MS-DOS compatible 3.5 floppy format which makes data
    transfer easy

20. The base version is equipped with a fast internal 48MB harddisk

21. Optional bigger harddisks with more than 320MB may be connected

22. It comes standard with a color monitor

23. Optional there are 19'' monochrome bigscreen monitors

24. Standard with 6 graphic modes: 320 * 200 in 16 colors

25. 640 * 200 in 4 colors

26. 640 * 400 in 2 colors

27. 320 * 480 in 256 colors

28. 640 * 480 in 16 colors

29. 1280 * 960 in monochrome

30. in addition there are a lot of special video cards available

31. Sensational the interfaces of the TT: two serial interfaces

32. parallel interface

33. VGA compatible video interface

34. keyboard interface

35. MIDI in/out

36. DMA interface

37. external floppy drive interface

38. Slot for ROM cartridge

39. Mouse interface (Mouse is included)

40. in addition the TT comes with a LAN interface

41. VME-Slot

42. and SCSI interface

43. as a upgrade an eathernet board is available

44. The TT has a complete 32bit memory bus and a 64bit video bus

45. The TT is compatible to all Atari ST models

46. therefor a lot of software for professional use is available,
    e.g. DTP, CAD, MIDI

47. in addition and exclusive for Atari only a lot of comfortable
    programs, e.g. Calamus, Signum, Notator, Script, Retouche, STAD

48. the needed space is surprisingly small because of the very compact box

49. Designer Ira Velinsky gave the TT it's modern look

50. for sure it comes with a real time clock

51. The Atari TT has a sensational introductory offer. Including a VGA monitor
    the base version comes for 7.498,- DM (about 5070$, Bernd). For more
    information call Atari Computer GmbH (049) 06142 209129 or 209155

END


How about reserving this topic for infos on the TT ?

Bernd
  

    Hi there,
    
    at 25. December 1990 I got my new, fine, great Atari TT.
    
    I think, this is a wunderfullmachine without the price! My TT has 8MB
    of RAM, a 50MB Harddisk, a 19" monochrome monitor TTM194. And all this
    things for a price of 5400.- sFr.
    
    Software:
    I'm a little big angry about all the programmer, because software, whre
    is made up in the 1990 don't run anymore. But one program, the
    Rescource Construction Set from Digital Research form the early
    lifetime of the Atari run and works fine. --> Are todays programmer are
    silly or some like that???
    Once, the Turbo C V2.0 runs also fine and very quick.
    
    I will you give a list of software, where will work on this new
    machine.
    
    by Niklaus

I was on the SYSTEMS computer fair in Munich yesterday, and took a look 
on what's new in the Atari world. So, there it was, the UNIX-TT in the
System V Developer Package:

- the same HW-features as described in .14
- AT&T UNIX System V Rel. 4.0
- XWindows 11.4
- OSF/Motif 1.1
- networking capabilities with TCP/IP, NFS and RFS using Ethernet
- XWindows terminals may be connected as well as ST(E)s with XWindows 
  terminal emulation
- Bourne-, C-, Korn-Shells included
- virtual File System (VFS)
- virtual Memory Managment
- user controlled process scheduling
- device driver interface
- device kernel interface
- X FaceMaker 2 software
- FSF GNU C Compiler 1.37
- FSF GNU C++ Compiler 1.37
- FSF GNU gdb Debugger 1.37
- AT&T System V Debugger
- Network File System (NFS)
- Remote File Sharing (RFS)
- TCP/IP DARPA-protocols
- BSD Sockets

re. .16:

and the price will be something about 9500 swiss francs (B�fa->Computer and 
Office Trade Show).

cheers Nik