====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors- / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter) BACK FOR THE FUTURE || ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technologies, GmbH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 970118 Q U I K P A K L E T T E R T O A L L A M I G A N S P C - T A S K 4 A N N O U N C E D E A G L E W E B P A G E D E S C R I B E S G O O D I E S ? T H R E E U T I L I T I E S F R O M I T A L Y A M I G A T R A N S L A T O R S ' O R G A N I Z A T I O N V I S C O R P M A K E S C O R R E C T I O N ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's Introduction and Thoughts: Despite the impressive number of headlines above, January has been a very slow month for Amiga news, which is why this is only the second issue to appear. Newcomers may not be aware that "Amiga Update" has no set publishing schedule - we send out an issue whenever we think it appropriate - but we do try to have at least two issues a month. In the last day or two some interesting items have appeared so we gathered up everything in the "next issue" queue and put one together for you. First, we'd like to tell you about an interesting rumor. Bill Buck, recently of VIScorp, has been reported as bidding for control of the Amiga on his own. The rumor reached us recently from Europe. If true, that would make QuickPak, Eagle Computer of Germany and Mr. Buck identified to one extent or another as bidders. We'll be watching this with interest, of course. For now, both Mr. Buck's bid and that of Eagle are unconfirmed as far as we know. We do hope one of these suitors, or another, actually consummates a marriage before the widow dies of neglect. Speaking of QuikPak, they recently posted an open letter to the Amiga community concerning the e-mail they've been getting of late. We have the letter below as our contribution to getting the word out. PC emulators for the Amiga are ever popular. We recently announced the arrival of PCx. Today we have an announcement of a new version of the venerable PC-Task. It's nice to see the competition, which can only make both products better. An interesting post recently to the Usenet newsgroups describes a new World Wide Web page at the Eagle Computer site, describing some new products - in German only. We have no one at Amiga Update who speaks German, but we thought we'd include the posting so any of you who do can check it out. Programmer Roberto Bizzarri of Italy has just announced three interesting utilities. We're not exactly sure where you can obtain copies, but suggest trying AmiNet if interested or contact the programmer directly. His e-mail address is included with the product descriptions. We especially like the name "McCloud" for one of the utilities. Fans of the old TV show may want that one just because of the name. A new group calling itself the Amiga Translators' Organization has posted an appeal for members. We know nothing about this group, but are passing their notice along for your inspection. Those with second language skills good enough to allow for extensive translation may want to take a closer look at this organization. We haven't given up following VIScorp entirely. We've notice recently all Amiga items have been dropped from their web site, except one, and there's now a link to an online PC encyclopedia. The encyclopedia does have some pretty good entries on the Amiga, so you web surfers may wish to check it out. The one remaining Amiga item on VIScorp's page is a correction to an earlier press release. It helps clear up the funding relationship with Amiga Technologies. It may not be a coincidence that the company referred to in this correction is Velasco GmbH. VIScorp's former head of European Operations was Raquel Velasco. We doubt there's much significance to all this, but thought we'd include the press release as it could be the last Amiga release ever from VIScorp. We hope you enjoy this issue. Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- O P E N L E T T E R F R O M Q U I C K P A K Downloaded 13 January, 1997 To the Amiga Community We would like to tell all of those who send Quikpak E-mail that we are greatly pleased with the quality and quantity of responses and inquiries that are sent to us on a daily basis. However, due to the sheer volume of responses that are sent to us, it has become increasingly difficult to respond to all of the letters that are sent to us. We would, however, like to thank each of you for your input, and ask that you please have patience. We would further like to tell you that all of your letters will be read, but it is not possible to respond to every one that is sent to us. Without the support of the Amiga user base the success that Quikpak has achieved in the last years would not have been possible. Please continue to write, as we hold all of your opinions in high esteem. User input is what past Amiga manufacturers lacked, and Quikpac would like to rectify that problem. Feel free to write with any suggestions and/or concerns. In the future we would ask that you direct any general information queries to QPInfo@ix.netcom.com and any service or warranty queries to QPServ@ix.netcom.com Thank-you Dan Robinson Director of Buisness Development, Amiga Computers QuikPak Corporation & Dave Ziembicki C.E.O. QuikPak Corporation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P C - T A S K 4 R E L E A S E D 7 Jan 1997 23:09:27 Quasar Distribution is pleased to announce the release of PC-Task 4, by Chris Hames. This latest release includes some exciting changes and major speed increases. With 80486 compatibility, now you are able to run that much needed software, and with the development of Dynamic Compilation you are able to experience major speed increases over previous versions. PC-Task is the fatest PC software emulation available on the Amiga, and is a necessity if you need to run PC software. See below for a full wrap-up. TITLE PC-Task 4 VERSION 4.0 AUTHOR Chris Hames PUBLISHER Published exclusively by: Quasar Distribution P.O. Box 101 Vermont Victoria 3133 Australia Phone +61 3 9887 2411 Fax +61 3 9887 2511 BBS +61 3 9587 5004 E-Mail pctask@ozemail.com.au Internet: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pctask DESCRIPTION PC-Task 4 is the fastest software 80486 emulator for the Amiga range of computers. The following features are included in this release: - 80486 compatibility - The fastest software PC emulator for the Amiga - Uses Dynamic Compilation for speed. - Support for up to 16MB RAM (15MB extended) under MS-DOS - Up to 2 floppy drives and 2 hard drives supported - Supports multiple hard disk files and hard disk partitions - High density floppies and CD-ROM support - Select from MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA and SVGA (512K-2MB) video modes - Support for up to 256 colours on AGA machines - Compatible with graphic boards (eg. Cybergraphics, EGS Spectrum, Picasso) - Parallel, Serial and PC speaker emulation - Mouse support, including Serial Mouse emulation - Run multiple PC-Task processes on the same machine - Run MS-DOS applications in a window on a public screen (eg. Workbench) - Transfer files between your Amiga and MS-DOS - Support for David Salamon's GoldenGate bridge cards - Compatible with MS Windows 3.0 - 3.11 * * Windows 3.1 requires 1.5 MB contiguous RAM and sufficient hard disk space NOTE: MS-DOS is NOT included. AVAILABILITY PC-Task 4 is available now. PC-Task 4 DEU (German version) scheduled for mid January 1997 AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTORS (Current as of January 1st 1997) Australia & New Zealand (and anywhere else not listed) Quasar Distribution P.O. Box 101 Vermont Victoria 3133 Australia Phone +613 9887 2411 Fax +613 9887 2511 BBS +613 9587 5004 U.K. Wizard Developments PO Box 490, Dartford, Kent England DA1 2UH Phone +44 (0)1322 527800 Fax +44 (0)1322 527810 Germany Casablanca Multimedia Wiemelhauser Straße 247a 44799 Bochum 1 Germany Phone +49 (0)234 7 20 35 Fax +49 (0)234 7 20 60 France France-Festival-Distribution 3 Rue Anatole France FR 13220 Chateauneufl-Les-Martigues France Phone +33.4.42.76.18.70 Fax +33.4.42.76.18.70 All distribution enquiries should be directed to Quasar Distribution. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS An Amiga computer with AmigaOS 2.0 or greater, a 68020 or greater and a minimum of 2Mb RAM. PRICE Please contact your local distributor for pricing and availability. UPGRADES Registered users of Version 3.0/3.1 of PC-Task are currently being mailed update offers via the mail. The cost of an upgrade from Version 3.0/3.1 is AUD$60 (including delivery). Feel free to order PC-Task before you receive your update offer by calling/faxing/emailing us at the details listing above. Please remember to supply your registration number. Users of the Quasar Distribution package who have not returned their product registration card, should contact Quasar Distribution, or their local authorised distributor for upgrade pricing and availability. Registered users of version 2.0 or before are also being mailed out an offer. The cost to register these version is AUD$84.00 including delivery. DEMO VERSION A demo version of PC-Task 4.0 is availble from our web page at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pctask You will also find this on most Amiga BBSs and Amiga Internet archives, such as Aminet (will be in misc/emu/PC-TaskDemo40.lha). {Note the following from an Amigan who went looking for the demo version at two Aminet sites ... Brad} 9 Jan 1997 00:18:03 Actually, I found it in biz/demo at wustl.edu and netnet.net God bless you! (and your Amiga) -Kip ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E A G L E C O M P U T E R W E B P A G E Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 07:21:29 CST6CDT There is a new web page from "eagle computer products" anouncing severl new Amiga-products. Sounds very interesting, like DEC ALPHA-Board at 433 MHz and running p-OS and Amiga-based Laptops. URL: http://www.eagle-cp.com/zukunft.htm PS: The page is in German only at the moment. Bye Wolfgang -- ------------------------------------------------------- Wolfgang Baudler mailto:baudler@gsf.de Tel.: +49.89.31874463 Fax.: +49.89.31874243 Home-Page: http://lulu.gsf.de:8888 ------------------------------------------------------- **** earth is a beta site. **** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M C U T I L I T I E S A N N O U N C E D McFiler v4.3 06 Jan 97 22:24:13 +0100 __ __ _____ _ _ _ _ ____ | \/ | ___| ___(_) | ___ _ __ | || | |___ \ | |\/| |/ __| |_ | | |/ _ \ '__| | || |_ __) | | | | | (__| _| | | | __/ | |__ _| ___) | |_| |_|\___|_| |_|_|\___|_| |_|(_)|____/ This program was born to achieve a better way to catalogue and archive files on ANY MEDIA DEVICE with special functions for FLOPPIES. It features functions able to quickly trace, view, unpack, rename, discard a file, as well as hide it from your list. You'll have at your disposal two nice routines, "FitDisk" and "SingleFit", which will allow you to optimize your collection of files to fit in the least possible number of disks. McFiler requires OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" v38+ (© by Nico François & Magnus Holmgren). McAgenda v4.3 06 Jan 97 22:23:31 +0100 McAgenda wants to be a simple phonebook. I have written it to get rid of all those big applications which require you to wander through plenty of options just to get a phone number. I'd rather use paper phonebooks for that. :) Or maybe i'd rather have used, because now there is McAgenda! McAgenda needs OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" (© Nico François & Magnus Holmgren). McCloud v1.2 06 Jan 97 22:34:44 +0100 *************************** * M c C l o u d v 1 . 2 * *************************** Written by Roberto Bizzarri © 1995-1997 English doc by Phalanx (Freeware) I N T R O D U C T I O N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ McCloud will forbid any floppy disk access on the specified disk. It will likely be useful in case you don't want unskilled people to jam with your disks. McCloud won't provide you any data encryption, it just modifies the specified disk's bootblock to render it invisible to your computer. The reason why I decided only to modify the bootblock is principally the security: should the disk present any read/write error, you'll get your datas back with a common program like DiskSalv, QBTools and so on, while a full encryption might be more unhandy. Anyway McCloud's aim is just to protect a bit your disks, not to grant full security. If you insert in any drive a disk protected by McCloud, no icon will appear, and, if asked via CLI/Shell, the Amiga will confirm the absence of any disk in your drive! Magical, isn't it? :) /***/ Changes from v1.1 : * new arguments template * added password support * fixed bug whith bootable floppy disks .---. .----------- / \ __ / ------ _ _ / / \( .`-, ----- |_) |_) ////// '~ ( --- | \oberto |_)izzarri //// / // : ; --- // / / /) / -- E-mail: robiz@mbox.vol.it / //..\\ FidoNet: 2:332/901.31 ==========UU====UU======================================== ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A T R A N S L A T O R S ' O R G A N I Z A T I O N Date: 17 Jan 1997 17:38:31 The Amiga Translators' Organization ! NEEDS YOU ! ABOUT ATO The Amiga Translators' Organization (ATO) is a bunch of worldwide Amiga users, who translate programs to many different languages. We make professional, consistent translations in an efficient way. ATO is a young non-profit organization, with volunteers from a wide range of nationalities and ages. We currently count about 200 members, divided over 17 languages. See http://home.pages.de/~ATO for more about ATO. WHY WE NEED YOU ATO has rapidly grown over the last few months. Although the number of members increases, some language departments, as we call them, can merely keep up with all the new projects coming in from enthousiastic Amiga developers! This is the time to join in, and help translate all that splendid Amiga software. You'll get some credits, help the Amiga's future, and will also be rewarded with an occasional free registration. See http://home.pages.de/~ATO.TRANSLATOR/PROOFREADER If you, as an Amiga user, are interested in translating Amiga programs to your native (or other) language, please consider joining ATO. You will be member of a group of loyal Amiga users, who voluntarely spend a small amount of your time translating fine Amiga programs. As a reward, you get world-wide fame, honour and credits. What do you want more?! Well, you can even get a free registration or keyfile for some projects! We require you to have a good understanding of the languages you are willing to translate to, and have Internet e-mail access. If you already did some program translations outside of ATO, why not join ATO and convince the program developers into invoking ATO :-) See http://home.pages.de/~ATO.DEVELOPERS Developers who wish to see their programs translated are welcome to contact ATO for doing this. See ATO's homepage, mentioned below. Once your translation project is in the hands of ATO, it will be professionally and consistantly, translated to, and proofread in, many of the world's languages. A project coordinator of ATO will critically handle the translation process for your program, inform you, and eventually send you the finished translations. Freeware is freely translated; for shareware we merely ask a keyfile and/or registration for each participant of your program's translation. For commercial software, we offer low cost customized prices. Developers who already have their software translated to some languages are also invited to invoke ATO. We can either do the missing translations or even better: have it all done by ATO and talk your existing translators into ATO :-) See http://home.pages.de/~ATO. OUR WEB HOME PAGE http://home.pages.de/~ATO Here you can subscribe. Also, it links to many language departments. AUTHOR This message was posted by Leon Woestenberg Dutch language administrator of the Amiga Translators' Organization . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- V I S C O R P C O R R E C T I O N VIScorp News: January 3, 1997 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chicago, IL January 3, 1997 Permission Granted to Distribute without Alteration VIScorp Correction FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hugh Jencks (312) 655-0903 VIScorp wishes to correct a factual error which was contained in a previous press release dated December 2, 1996. The fourth paragraph of that release stated "...a wholly-owned VIScorp German subsidiary continued to operate Amiga...". The company referred to in that statement was Velasco GmbH. That company is not a wholly-owned subsidiary of VIScorp although VIScorp intends to acquire it in the near future. VIScorp regrets this inadvertent error and any confusion it might have caused. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at: http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format) http://www.amigacom.com (in ASCII text) All back issues available (in ASCII text) at: http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1996 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || ======================================================================