Volume 3 Issue 10, October 1988
A couple of months ago when a local friend of mine in the Seattle Commodore Computer Club (SEA-CCC) learned of my rare software archiving project, he handed me a stack of disks from the Tracy Amiga Group (TAG), based in Tracy, California.
At the same time he handed me a small stack of what I later discovered were user group newsletters - paper magazines - created here in the Pacific Northwest.
This is a little confusing, but there were multiple computer shops called “Co-ops” back then. In the 1980s, computer "co-op" stores sold a variety computer systems from different brands, with varying capabilities. In other words, they sold all flavors and were not dedicated dealerships. There was one called Computer Co-Op based in Renton, Washington. And there was at least another called the A.P.P.L.E. Co-Op based in Everett, Washington, which to be honest I don’t think actually stood for anything. Maybe they added the periods to avoid any possible litigation. I’ve no idea.
But the Everett location apparently was the home base for creating a monthly Amiga-focused home grown paper magazine and newsletter written with a touch of a local perspective.
Guys, these little mags are pure gold.
I have half a dozen of these. I decided to scan the one that chronologically would be first in my set, which dates to October of 1988. The Amiga 1000 had been all the rage for the past three years and now the Amiga 500 and 2000 were now heavily on the scene.
I’ve created a PDF duplicate of the publication, which you can download and view for yourself (see above). I highly recommend doing this because then you’ll get to see how it was designed and laid out. This entire thing was made on an Amiga at the A.P.P.L.E. Co-Op in Everett, and printed on laser printers at another shop (Omni International) in another part of town.
The writing is great with lots of mild humor thrown in along the way. But more importantly, the overall “vibe” and detailed history it articulates is so good, so important, so … needing to be shared. Even as early as 1988, the prevailing sentiment seemed to be that the Amiga was a computer that didn’t deserve support - at least as far as the mainstream press was concerned. Even though the Amiga had nearly reached the 1 million units sold mark by this point, the constant drumbeat of how Amiga shouldn’t be taken seriously is sobering. There’s a very low-level David vs Goliath theme that emerges from the texts, one that I really devoured.
This first issue is broken into two halves. One half is a fascinating month-by-month timeline of the Amiga’s birth and ensuing product releases and news reports. The second half is a “hall of fame” showcase of the best software Amiga had at that time.
Really cool stuff.
[AmigaLove Side Note]
A couple weeks ago I took this issue to a local pub I like for lunch. I was reading it while eating and set it to the side when it was time to pay. When I got home, I soon discovered I’d forgotten it at the restaurant! I quickly called them and asked if they’d seen the strange little magazine and they assured me they had put it by the register.
When I got there 30 minutes later, the manager started to ask me about it saying how cool it was. He’d even said the owner of the restaurant had seen it and that if I didn’t come back to pick it up that he wanted it.
I told you guys these things were cool!
Fully Transcribed Text Version
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AmigaUser 10-88
Volume 3, Number 10
Cover, Page 1
AmigaUser An A.P.P.L.E. Co-Op Publication Volume 3, Number 10 October 1988 $1.00
Gee, Dave, neat cover! But what's the caption? I don’t know, Jim! I thought that maybe you could figure something out!
THE AMIGA TAKES OFF! 1985-1988
Page 2
EDITORIAL
And now, a word from the land of Big Blue
This month, we include a "guest editorial," taken from the September 12th PC Week (page 44):
Another Hombre has a somewhat slanted list of things to do while waiting for Presentation Manager applications:
1. Buy an Amiga. Every significant new feature in OS/2 was done first on the Amiga: multitasking, interprocess communications, color graphics interface, as well as large amounts of directly addressable memory.
2. Buy an Amiga. When IBM first released the PS/2 machines, it copied several features from Commodore’s Amiga: analog RGB video, a bus that supports multiprocessing, a built-in color display adapter, built-in serial, parallel, and mouse ports, 3-1/2 inch floppy disks, and high-resolution color graphics.
3. Buy an Amiga. It’s more IBM-compatible (using the BridgeBoard) with the classic PC, XT, and AT machines than the PS/2.
4. Buy an Amiga. Its slick graphics and easy-to-use operating system are tight and solid, unlike OS/2, which requires as much as 4 MB just to run.
5. Buy an Amiga. The best-ever microcomputer implementation of Unix is coming for the Amiga this fall.
Our thanks to the anonymous PCWeek author. We couldn't have said it better ourselves! - JDW
AmigaUser Editor: James David Walley
Associate Editors: Peter Barnes , David J. Unruh
Contributing Editors: Bob Branham, Scott Rowin
AmigaUser is produced with the following products:
* Professional Page
* WordPerfect
* Scribble!
* GRABBiT
* Deluxe Paint II
* Deluxe Photo Lab
* Star SG-10
* NEC SilentWriter
Laser typesetting courtesy of Omni International 547-OMNI
[AmigaLove Side Note: Omni International was another Amiga dealer that also sold relevant high-end hardware for VHS/desktop video work, etc. and was based literally 2 blocks from my current work office! I believe it was torn down long ago and the space converted to apartments.]
Our thanks to the A.P.P.L.E. Co-op for use of their facility and equipment.
Those wishing to submit articles to AmigaUser should contact an Editor at the S.I.G. meeting, or call James David Walley at (1-)347-4992.
Letters to the Editor may be mailed to: James David Walley c/o Bit Player Software 9021 Evergreen Way—Suite 130 Everett, Washington 98204
(C)opyright 1988 by A.P.P.L.E. Co-op
All rights reserved
Page 3
News and/or Rumors
* The 2300 Internal Genlock is apparently "in the country." So far, none have been seen in the Pacific Northwest.
* 1.3 has gone into production and is due within three weeks. While the 1.2 upgrade cost $15, the price for 1.3 has jumped to $29.95. It will be interesting to see if those who own gamma copies will decide to go legitimate at that price. Of course, the cost is still negligible compared to the $125 IBM is asking for the latest version of MS-DOS, let alone the projected $795 price tag for the full OS-2.
* Commodore has apparently killed the 2052 2-meg expansion board and will soon make available an 8-meg version named (can you guess?) the 2058.
* The 286 BridgeBoard is near release, with an estimated price of $995. Those with 8088 BridgeBoards will be disappointed to learn that no trade-in offer is planned.
* A new 2000 promotion is in the works, but for some reason, not all dealers will be participating.
* It has been revealed that Commodore is currently the world’s largest user of DRAM chips, with 71 million used over the past year.
* While Amigoids are eagerly awaiting news of their machine reaching the 1 million level, it turns out that Commodore sold 1.2 million supposedly obsolete C-64s in the last year alone.
* ComicSetter is now out. Unfortunately, version 1.0 of the long-awaited program had a slight problem: it didn’t print! Gold Disk apparently broke the record for the fastest issue of an upgrade, getting version 1.1 out before most stores had received their shipments of 1.0.
* The MaxiPlan saga continues. The integrated spreadsheet was originally written by MaxiSoft (later renamed Intuitive Technologies). The first release of the program was distributed by Electronic Arts, while the second incarnation (as MaxiPlan 500 and MaxiPlan Plus) was handled by Oxxi. Now comes word that Portland-based B.E.S.T. has acquired the product. This raises some interesting questions. First, how could the low-profile B.E.S.T., whose Business Management System was a sales dud, afford to pick up the premier Amiga spreadsheet? Second, what happens to Oxxi? After their fiasco with Benchmark Modula-2, where they spent big dollars advertising a product that wound up being sold by another company, MaxiPlan was the only big-name product they carried. Without it, their product line seems restricted to the Nimbus accounting system and the A-Talk III terminal, scarcely big money-makers.
* Precision Software (makers of Superbase) have dropped ties with Progressive Peripherals and Software and have set up their own U.S. distribution company. The biggest change involved will be the dropping of their dongle copy protection. As of now, Superbase is still sold with a dongle, but users can get a completely unprotected disk with their name encrypted somewhere in the program. Could this be the sensible form of copy-protection we’ve been waiting for all these years?
INDEX
* Editorial: Page 2
* News and/or Rumors: Page 3
* Three Years of the Amiga: Page 4
* The AmigaUser Hall of Fame: Page 10
Editor’s Note: The Editor wishes to apologize to those contributors whose work does not appear in this month’s issue. Owing to Columbus Day, we had to modify our printing schedule, which required us to produce a shorter publication than normal. Therefore, we could not include several items. These will appear next month. Sorry! - JDW
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THREE YEARS OF THE AMIGA (AND OF A.M.I.G.A.) What a long, strange trip it’s been…
While every Amigoid knows that the July 23, 1985, Lincoln Center premiere marked the "birth" of the Amiga, machines didn’t ship for another few months. Therefore, it was October before the first Amy made its appearance in the Pacific Northwest. The same month marked the beginning of the A.P.P.L.E. Co-op’s Amiga S.I.G., also known as A.M.I.G.A. (which, as far as anyone can tell, stands for nothing). In honor of this anniversary, we are presenting a recap of the last three years of Amiga history.
1985
October
Com-Soft hosts a private showing of the Amiga on the evening of the 12th at the Everett Holiday Inn. Attendees get to view a videotape of the Lincoln Center introduction, as well as one detailing all the new software soon to be available (some of which we’re still waiting for). Finally, we all get to see a REAL Amiga, and watch Mark Tindol, Com-Soft co-owner, open some windows and play around with the mouse for a while. (Those of us who were lucky enough to stumble into Com-Soft’s Silver Lake store the day before had already had a chance to play with the new wonder, and deafen the sales staff with impromptu solos on the "power chord.")
Later that month, Ken Hoffman calls the first A.M.I.G.A. meeting to order at the Co-op, making us the real F.A.U.G. (First Amiga Users Group). The Co-op immediately begins carrying Amiga software.
November
Amigas are now generally available in the Seattle area. Dealers include Com-Soft (Everett), University Bookstore (Seattle), and MicroAge (Bellevue). Media Man, in Lynnwood, starts stocking Amiga software, despite their status as an ST dealer.
Deluxe Paint begins appearing in stores, giving Amiga owners something, finally, to do with their machines other than watch the "Boing!" demo.
December 1.1 begins to make its appearance, as do the Electronic Arts games One-on-One, Archon, and Seven Cities of Gold, just in time for Christmas. Microsoft’s AmigaBASIC allows for a speedy retirement of ABasiC.
Textcraft finally ships, giving Amiga owners something to do with their machines other than use Deluxe Paint. (Actually, it gives them two things to do: use Textcraft, and complain about Textcraft.)
InfoWorld, in their review of the Amiga, awards it a 2.8 (on a scale of 1 to 10)—the worst rating of a computer in history. Complaints center on the lack of software, as well as the bugginess of 1.0, which had already been replaced by the time of publication. Consumer Reports, in an initial review of the Amiga and ST, concludes that while the ST has many entertainment and productivity software titles available, the Amiga has very few, making it only fit to be "a high-tech doorstop." Unlike InfoWorld, Consumer Reports promises to take a further look at the two machines.
1986
January
The new year begins on a bad note, with Commodore announcing a quarterly operating loss of $53.2 million. With millions of dollars in loans due next month, the vultures begin to circle.
Page 5
Commodore, ignoring its imminent demise, issues specifications for the expansion bus, setting off a small wave of hardware development.
Micro Systems Software releases Analyze!, the first Amiga spreadsheet.
In its "Roomers" section, Amazing Computing gives details on the upcoming "Ranger," with a 68020, de-interlaced display, and built-in hard drive.
February
Commodore dodges a major bullet, negotiating an extension of their bank loans literally days before likely foreclosure.
Unimpressed by the new banking arrangement, Time publishes an account of Commodore’s impending bankruptcy in its issue of the 24th, under the headline "Adios, Amiga."
Marauder hits the market. Sales of blank disks increase dramatically.
March
Amazing Computing presents a list of 60 "currently available" software packages (at least two of which still haven’t appeared as of 10/88).
Commodore announces a $500 price cut on the Amiga with a monitor, running from the beginning of April through mid-May. Conventional wisdom is unanimous that this price cut is permanent, despite CBM’s claims to the contrary.
April
Transformer begins shipping. With their usual sense of timing, Commodore executives pick that moment to announce the SideCar. (This marks a major turning point at Commodore, as Thomas Rattigan decides to take the Amiga out of the hands of the original design team and turn it over to the engineers at Commodore Germany.)
The A.M.I.G.A. meeting turns into a case of group hysteria with the demonstration of the talking Racter, an "artificial insanity" program.
At one user group (which shall remain nameless to avoid embarrassment to people north of here), Marauder is being demonstrated when the group’s leader unwittingly leaves the room for twenty minutes or so. By the time he returns, most of the people in attendance "own" a copy of Marauder. (Fortunately, this is both the first and last instance of such activity among Seattle-area user groups.)
Amazing reports that Lotus and Ashton-Tate will soon introduce Amiga ports of their products.
Consumer Reports re-examines the Amiga and ST. Although their tests showed the Amiga as the winner in virtually all categories, they still pick the ST, based on price.
May
Major layoffs take place at Commodore, with most of the original Amiga team being handed their walking papers.
Commodore ends the $500 discount offer right on schedule.
The as-yet unreleased Mind Walker is shown at the Co-op meeting. It succeeds in stealing the show, although it is not clear to all exactly what is going on in the game.
Beta copies of 1.2 begin to appear. Setting a precedent, they are widely copied. Commodore begins receiving bug reports from people not on their beta-test list.
The last "hole" in standard software categories is plugged with the release of MiAmiga File, the first file manager for the Amiga.
The Co-op becomes an official Amiga dealership. Amazing reports that AutoCAD is being ported to the Amiga.
June
B.E.S.T. demonstrates their Business Management System at the monthly meeting.
MaxiPlan is released and stuns users with proof that MaxiSoft can actually write decent software (they had previously bombed with the oft-crashing MaxiDesk and MaxiComm). Within months, MaxiPlan becomes the standard Amiga spreadsheet.
Deluxe Video appears, giving birth to the term (and concept) "desktop video."
In Lynnwood, Family Computer opens, providing another Amiga dealership (and making up for the absence of Media Man, which will close within two months).
Digi-View gives the Amiga a stunning new capability and gives a number of (male) owners the chance to digitize the past five years' worth of Playboy centerfolds, causing a serious overcrowding problem on a number of B.B.S. file servers.
Page 6
July
Amazing announces that there will be a new Amiga, the 2000, with a 68010 and built-in SideCar. EA’s Marble Madness becomes the first-ever 100% accurate translation from an actual arcade game.
August
Things are beginning to turn around at Commodore, with the announcement of a $1.2 million profit for the previous quarter. Apparently, even Commodore itself was only hoping to break even.
Amazing reports the first rumors about the "B-52" (a.k.a. 500).
September
The Co-op and the Amiga make a splash at the first (and only) Com-Soft Computer Show in Bellevue.
October
Revista Amigable (the N.S.A.U.G. newsletter) reports that the 2000 will only be sold in Europe. The "Ranger," or 3000, will feature a 68020, 32-bit architecture, and 1280 x 1024 resolution. Revista warns, though, that this new machine can’t hold a candle to Atari’s upcoming TT model in either performance or price.
Revista further claims that Jack Tramiel will stage a hostile takeover of Commodore with his massive profits from Atari and then merge the Amiga and the ST into one computer line. Overlooking the fact that this would make all N.S.A.U.G. members owners of orphans, the article concludes with the incredible statement that "both Commodore and Atari supporters should be pleased" by this prospective turn of events.
Superbase Personal becomes the first relational database for the Amiga.
November
The second Amiga Developer Conference, held in Monterey, starts off with a bang as Commodore declares its previously announced expansion bus specs to be "inoperative" and issues a new, improved, completely incompatible set of specifications. According to rumor, one of the representatives from Byte-by-Byte (which had already invested nearly a million dollars in developing hardware instantly rendered obsolete) has to be physically restrained from attacking the Commodore spokesman.
At the show, Commodore also describes the Amiga as "the ideal desktop-publishing machine" and declares that the Amiga will stand or fall based on its success in that area, despite the fact that there is absolutely no desktop-publishing software available. It is reported that either Irving Gould or Tom Rattigan has recently become enamored of the field and has therefore decided to change Commodore’s entire marketing direction.
Mindscape releases Defender of the Crown, a milestone in computer gaming. Within weeks, one in every ten Amiga owners purchases a copy.
According to Revista Amigable, there will be a 2000 (with 68020) after all, but it will be totally upstaged by Atari’s 2080EST, which features a blitter chip and 640 x 592 non-interlaced color. (Admittedly, the author of this article did get one item right—an announcement of the 500.)
Amazing, in its Annual Product Roundup, lists 253 currently-available software packages.
December
1.2 finally ships and promptly sells out (a happy surprise, considering that everyone and their dog already owned "unauthorized" beta copies).
The Amiga makes an appearance on Miami Vice. Contrary to earlier claims, it has not been painted black to fit in with the "look" of the show. It is shown running the well-known crime-fighting software, Preferences.
The Genlock appears, only a year late, and is promptly criticized for poor image quality.
PageSetter, Deluxe Music (finally!), and Marauder II are released.
1987
January
ASDG releases a recoverable RAMdisk, VDO:, which soon becomes near-standard equipment. How did we ever get along without it?
Page 7
February
AmigaUser has a new look, as the result of being created with PageSetter—the big step up to "desktop publishing."
Late this month, Compute! publishes the first news of the Amiga 2000. Unfortunately, they publish it too early, in defiance of non-disclosure agreements, provoking threats of lawsuits (later settled out-of-court), and generally keeping lots of lawyers busy.
Deluxe Paint II is released.
March
The Co-op (in cooperation with other Seattle Amiga groups) presents R.J. Mical at the Pacific Science Center, entertaining the audience with tales of blue smoke, dancing fools, and how Jay Miner’s dog really designed the Amiga.
The first official announcement of the Amiga 500 appears in Amazing.
On a sad note: the Amiga Los Gatos office closes its doors for the last (?) time on the 31st. All Amiga work is shifted to West Chester or Germany.
April
Amazing reports that the 500 will not be produced after all, providing subscribers with a good laugh.
Com-Soft, which brought the original Amiga to the Northwest, closes its doors for good.
May
The SideCar arrives and promptly dies on its feet.
Now that 1.2 is out, the first rumors about 1.3 begin spreading.
Omni International Trading, which had operated for several months in owner Larry Owens’s home, moves to a retail space in Wallingford, thus taking over the University Bookstore’s dealership. At this point, only Bellevue’s MicroAge remains from the original set of Amiga dealers.
Just when you thought it was safe to be a Commodore owner... "corporate savior" Tom Rattigan is fired. Rumor mills work overtime in the week following the announcement.
June
R.J. Mical makes an encore appearance, showing off an A2000 prototype and demonstrating Live! (which is now only 1¾ years late).
Rumors begin to spread about the A1000 trade-up policy. The rumor mill will alternately announce details of this policy and deny that it is ever going to take place from now until the 2000’s introduction, with the culmination being the announcement, in AmigaWorld, that there will definitely be no trade-in... several weeks after the program begins.
July
Ken Hoffman and Omni International’s Larry Owens appear on Northwest Computing, marking the first (and only) all-Amiga show.
August
In possibly the two biggest events in recent Amiga history, the A500 arrives (and promptly sells out), and WordPerfect is released (likewise).
The long-dormant issue of Amiga software piracy emerges in a full-scale furor, as Fred Fish recalls two of his public domain disks for containing what turns out to be commercial software.
September
First reports of the enhanced chipset emerge, leaving many 1000 owners wondering about the future of their machines.
October
Virtually every Amiga magazine features an article on the Amiga-produced TV hit Max Headroom. Of course, ABC cancels it within two weeks.
Commodore hires Max Toy as CEO. Mercifully, few in the press make snide comments based on his name.
Atari buys the Federated Group, ironically making them one of the biggest Amiga dealers in the U.S.
Finally… the 2000 is released.
November
"Something wonderful has happened…" Something terrible happens to the Amiga with the appearance of the S.C.A. Virus, the first in a long line of malicious "programs" from the dark side of the hacking community.
Jay Miner appears at the Co-op, discourses on Amiga history and Leisure Suit Larry, then heads back to the Bay Area to undergo emergency kidney surgery.
Page 8
December
Ken Hoffman resigns the editorship of AmigaUser and is replaced by Peter Barnes.
Atari raises the price for the ST by $100 in the middle of the Christmas season and then wonders why sales collapse.
1988
January
P.B.S.’s Computer Chronicles announces the upcoming release of the Amiga 3000, with specifications that sound curiously just like the 2000.
RAM prices begin to climb through the roof, just as A2000 RAM expansion modules become widely available.
February
AmigaUser moves up to Postscript typesetting.
Apparently, Commodore Los Gatos never really went away after all, with Dale Luck manning a one-person office. Rumors claim that more people will soon be hired there (triggering Mike Smithwick to circulate a wonderful parody titled "Amiga: The Next Generation").
March
An era ends at A.M.I.G.A., as founder Ken Hoffman steps down as Chairman.
Amazingly enough, the Amiga begins to gain recognition from sources such as the syndicated Computer Report and even U.S.A. Today.
EA releases Return To Atlantis, a program originally promised at the Amiga’s roll-out in July 1985. Surprisingly (?), no one seems to care. Also released: Benchmark Modula-2, fulfilling the long-delayed promise of an Amiga Turbo Pascal clone.
April
Peter Barnes is chosen as new S.I.G. Chairman.
The S.I.G. issues its first "Golden A.P.P.L.E. Awards," with top prizes going to WordPerfect and the Insider RAM expansion, while Linkword Spanish has the distinction of winning the top prize in the associated "Rotten A.P.P.L.E.s" for the worst software of the year.
At Germany’s Hanover Fair, Commodore announces the 2500AT and the 2500UX, each essentially an A2000 with additional hardware.
May
Official estimates show that the Amiga has broken the 600,000 mark in installed base worldwide. One year ago, there were only 200,000 Amigas sold. Commodore speculates that the Amiga will pass the one-million mark by the end of the year.
June
Following the trend with 1.2, beta (gamma, actually) versions of 1.3 leak out and are "distributed" widely.
Reports begin to surface concerning the Transputer board, which promises to bring high-speed multiprocessing to the 2000.
July
AmigaUser publishes its largest issue ever—28 pages, including an interview with the creator of the S.C.A. virus.
Sources at Commodore unofficially announce the Amiga 3000, to be driven by a 68030 CPU.
August
1.3 Gamma 7 is "released," bringing high-quality dot-matrix printing to the Amiga (at last!).
Two months still remained before our third birthday, but, to tell the truth, there were no blockbuster events during that time. Indeed, this is to be expected. Looking at this chronology, it is obvious that there was a higher concentration of events in the early months of the Amiga, and major activity (at least of the make-or-break kind) has dropped off since then. This is a normal (and, I think, healthy) trend in the history of any successful computer—which is what, finally, the Amiga qualifies as after three years.
--James David Walley
Page 9
Advertisement: Omni International Trading
* Highlights the capabilities of the Magni 4004 Video Graphics Encoder for Amiga systems.
* Promotes broadcast-quality conversion with no external boxes.
- The "Hall of Fame" section for Amiga up to that point in time.
Page 10
THE AmigaUser HALL OF FAME
As we reach the third anniversary of the Amiga in the Northwest, we are amazed at just how many products have appeared for this supposedly unsupported computer. The editors have decided to go back and select those products which belong in the "Hall of Fame," including the best and most significant in each field.
These are our picks:
Writing Tools
* Textcraft: Although much maligned later on, this was the first piece of productivity software on the Amiga, with probably the nicest screen design of any word processor. It also incorporated a couple of new ideas (business forms and animated "tutorials") that showed that working with the Amiga would not be more of the "same old stuff."
* WordPerfect: The "heavy hitter" for the Amiga. Not only does WordPerfect contain just about every word-processing feature known to mankind (except for merged graphics), but it probably saved our machine. Where would the Amiga be without this program?
* excellence!: Not only is this the first graphic word processor worthy of more than toy status, but excellence! even contains some features (like the interactive grammar checker) that put WordPerfect to shame.
Spreadsheets
* Analyze!: The first spreadsheet for the Amiga. For quite a while, Analyze! was your only choice. Fortunately, it was fully capable, if a bit limited in "bells and whistles."
* VIP Professional: This was a virtual 1-2-3 clone, down to the last keystroke. Of great use to those who had to bring home work done with Lotus’s product at the office, VIP was also the first program to graze the top of the original Amiga’s 512K limit.
* MaxiPlan: This offering from MaxiSoft/Intuitive Technologies managed to take all the standard "integrated spreadsheet" features and shape them into a powerful, intuitive package that could only be done on an Amiga. The current standard.
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Databases
* MiAmiga File (and Softwood File II): Another Amiga first, MiAmiga combined a full-featured file manager with a "look" worthy of some of the top names in design. The screen belonged in Architectural Digest.
* Superbase: The first fully-relational database (and the first to allow the use of pictures as well as text). Superbase has since been enhanced with programmability, form layout, and so on. Precision is even getting rid of the dongle (at last!).
* Microfiche Filer: Software Visions created a new screen metaphor for files (a sheet of microfilm instead of a stack of index cards) and called it "the file-manager for the rest of us." MiAmiga proved to be the most fun to work with among Amiga productivity software.
Accounting
* Money Mentor 2.0: Powerful, attractive, and intuitive, this is the one quality program in a less-than-impressive field.
Drawing and Desktop Presentation
* Deluxe Paint (I and II): This was probably the favorite Amiga "game" of the first year, as well as the most powerful computer graphics program of its time.
* Animator and Deluxe Video: These Aegis and EA products created and defined "desktop video."
* Videoscape 3D: When coupled with a single-frame VCR, Videoscape gives the Amiga the power of a dedicated computer-animation system at a fraction of the cost.
* Sculpt 3-D: The standard ray-tracing program and creator of some of the most stunning artwork seen on the Amiga.
* Photon Paint: The most feature-rich HAM-mode paint program.
* Deluxe Photo Lab: The only paint program that works in all modes. D.P.L. lacks some features found in Photon but compensates by including image-processing and poster-creation modules. It is the paint program to own if you can only afford one.
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Music
* Musicraft: Officially unpublished, this program still managed to "circulate" widely among early Amiga users. Few sights were more amusing than B.B.S. and network file sections filled with songs composed on a program that, technically, didn’t exist. It lives on as Sonix.
* Instant Music: Lets you use your mouse to "jam" with the computer in a variety of musical styles. Amazingly good for non-musicians.
* Deluxe Music (DMCS): EA’s long-awaited program, the only mouse-and-keyboard-driven music software with tools for serious composing.
* Pro MIDI Studio: When paired with proper equipment (though not cheap), it offers nearly anything a musician could want. Used professionally by bands like Todd Rundgren’s and solo performers like Frank Zappa.
Telecommunications
* OnLine!: The first "big" terminal program, featuring scripting and (since version 2.0) ZModem. A must-have for PC-Pursuit.
* AMIC: An attractive and powerful shareware terminal with more features than most commercial programs.
* Access!: Another shareware terminal with even more features than AMIC.
Programming
* Manx Aztec C: A lifesaver for early programmers, Aztec offered much better performance than the early versions of the Lattice compiler.
* Lattice C 4.0: Lattice catches up.
* SDB: A Source Level Debugger for Aztec that advances C programming yet again.
* Benchmark Modula-2—Turbo Pascal: Improved. Benchmark's integrated environment makes either...
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...version of C seem like Purgatory. Well-equipped with support. Well-equipped with support libraries.
* PowerWindows: A program that lets users create windows, menus, gadgets, and requesters by drawing them on the screen. These are then translated into source code in BASIC, C, Assembly, Forth, and Modula-2. A must-have for anyone working with Intuition.
Educational
* Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!: While education software is one of the weaker areas for the Amiga, this typing tutor stands out as a first-class example. All "computer learning" should be like this.
Utilities
* Marauder II: Known as the dean of Amiga copiers until it was discontinued. It was notable for "brain files" that stripped copy protections, allowing installations on hard drives. R.I.P.
* Quicknibble: Another defunct copier, notable for its music, such as digitized recordings from Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Even software retailers love it.
* Conman: Added command-line editing and history to the CLI. It was so effective that Commodore attempted to create a similar feature in version 1.3, though not very successfully.
* ASDG-RRD (VDO): A "recoverable RAMdisk" utility that became indispensable for managing the system's stability and reducing crashes.
* PopCLI: Combines a hotkey-generated CLI with a screen-blanker, making it both functional and user-friendly.
* Mach II: Takes the features of PopCLI and adds macro-keys, click-to-front, Sun-type mouse emulation, a clock, and everything but the kitchen sink. Could be the best con-commercial utility ever released for the Amiga.
* VirusX - An absolutely indispensable virus detector.
* GRABBiT - This utility will "grab" any screen and save it as an IFF file or dump it to the printer. Also includes AnyTime, a nice program that lets the user...
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...change any colors on any screen.
* TxEd
A better editor than either Commodore’s Ed or Notepad. Of special appeal to programmers.
* Gizmoz
The Amiga answer to Sidekick, Gizmoz includes a notepad, calendar, index file, three calculators, terminal, hotkey-builder, graph-maker, system utilities, even a cuckoo clock, and a game.
Games
Hack
An Amiga-ized port of a classic mainframe adventure. Hack was the first truly addicting Amiga game. Fun and free.
Radar Raiders
A never-completed SubLogic flight program that leaked into the public domain. In some ways, better than the two they did release.
One on One
EA’s first Amiga release, and the first game to show the promise of the Amiga. A great way to make your friend’s I.B.M., C-64, Atari, or Apple (running the same program) look sick.
The Halley Project
While not a great game, the digitized opening music ("Are you there, station leader?") made this a great demo. Useful for booting up just to watch people’s mouths drop.
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!
An educational tool that made typing lessons engaging and fun.
Mind Walker
Winner of AmigaWorld’s Timothy Leary award (for "program most closely resembling a psychedelic experience"). Mind Walker sends players off in search of their own mind. Optional help from "Uncle Sigmund."
Marble Madness
The first arcade conversion to capture all the flavor of the original. Marble Madness was an exact copy of the stand-up game, with stereo sound added.
Defender Of The Crown
Magnificent graphics (by Jim Sachs) highlight Mindscape’s Arthurian strategy game. If you haven’t seen this one, you don’t know what your Amiga is capable of.
Shanghai
A variant on Mah-Jongg, this program may not have seemed special at first glance. However, its addictiveness and the ease of play offered by the Amiga’s mouse interface made it shine compared to joystick-based versions on other computers.
Déjà Vu
A breakthrough in graphic adventure gaming, this program allows users to perform actions in an engaging, interactive environment.
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...by clicking on the objects on screen. Equally good follow-ups include Uninvited and Shadowgate.
Portal
You return to Earth in the year 2106 to find the planet deserted. Tapping into a computer network, you set out to discover what happened. More a computer novel than a game, Portal succeeds through a good story, plus an uncanny feeling of reality (you, like your character, must find what you’re looking for by manipulating a computer). A fascinating experience.
Barbarian
Go adventuring with C(l)onan. This elaborate arcade game features great graphics and tongue-in-cheek humor.
Earl Weaver Baseball
The best computer sports simulation ever. EWB combines the strategy and realism of board games like Strat-O-Matic with television-like graphics. Watching a game at the (long gone) Polo Grounds almost makes you feel like you are really there.
F/A-18 Interceptor
A top-quality flight-combat simulator. You haven’t lived until you’ve staged an attack on the EA headquarters in San Mateo (and yes, it is possible)!
Awesome Arcade Action Pack Volume I
A bundle of Xenon, Sidewinder, and Blastaball. This package sets new standards for shoot-’em-ups, with beautiful graphics, detailed sound, and fine gameplay. Any one of the three would be worth the price of the entire package.
Hardware
Digi-View: When Amiga Live! dropped the ball, NewTek came to the rescue with the first Amiga frame-grabber.
Perfect Sound and Future Sound: Either of these two sound digitizers can be used to put any sound you want on an Amiga. Useful for everything from (of course) music to game programming.
Insider: This internal 1-Meg board for the 1000 is probably the most prevalent memory-expansion unit out there. Do-it-yourself installation brings back the hardware-hacker days of the Altair.
Micron 2-Megabyte Expansion Board: The lowest-priced RAM expansion for the 2000, adaptable to the 500 and 1000.
Page 16, Back Cover
Desktop Publishing on the Amiga
* Amiga 500 with 1MB of memory
* 2 880k 3.5 inch floppy drives
* Commodore 1084 RGB Monitor
* Monitor Stand and Cable
* Professional Page 1.1 desktop publishing software
* DigiView 3.0
* Panasonic 1410 black-and-white camera
* Deluxe Photo Lab graphics software
Complete Package for $1949.00
We carry the latest graphics and desktop publishing packages for all computers. Come in for a live demonstration.
Only Amiga Makes It Possible.
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If you guys like this kind of thing I can create more of these later. (This took me about 4 hours to scan, transcribe and place here.) Let me know what you think.
