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From: verwer@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl (Nico Verwer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Atari loyalty
Summary: TOS 1.4
Keywords: Still true.
Message-ID: <1529@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl>
Date: 25 Aug 89 09:10:24 GMT
References: <1754@sactoh0.UUCP>
Organization: Univ of Utrecht, Dept of CS
Lines: 34

In article <1754@sactoh0.UUCP>, mfolivo@sactoh0.UUCP (Mark F. Newton John) writes:
> Now, what I'd like to see is some suggestions on what you want from
> Atari. No more crying or whining.
I want the new TOS 1.4 in ROM. Now someone is going to say that I should
become a registered developer, but I have no intention to become a
software developer. I just want to use my atari for running TeX, 1st word, 
a PD paint program, Uniterm, all the other net-software, SASL (a functional
programming language), and a game or two.
At this moment, I have to run all sorts of patches at boot time to get the
system working in a nice way: G+plus, Filefix (an improved file selector),
Idle12, Settime, Interprint (to get my P2200 working), QuikST, Folder100,
mousedoub, Shell.acc (a PD shell-accessory),... 
This procedure causes some problems: I used to load more TSRs and ACCs, 
like a ramdisk, but there would not be enough memory left for TeX (I have
a 1040). I now have a hard disk, but running TeX with a floppy and a 
ramdisk should not be a problem, if only I wouldn't need all those patches 
that eat up my ram.
Another problem is that some of these patches must be loaded in "the right
order" (your right order depends on what patches you want), and others
don't want to cooperate at all. I used to have TurboST, but it just wasn't
compatible with my new file-selector. This may be caused by the new file-
selector, but I don't want to miss it, so I'm not going to throw it out.

Many of these problems seem to have been solved in TOS 1.4, but I don't
feel like paying $600 for it (I have enough piles of xeroxed "doc's").
Atari claims that the new TOS is ready to be released, so why not just DO
it? I'd think that 90% of the work has been done, i.e. writing the new
TOS. All Atari needs is a ROM burner and an advertising campaign in the
many Atari-magazines (at least in Europe there are many). I have yet to 
hear a GOOD reason for not releasing TOS 1.4 (not "we don't know how where
to buy ROMs").

Nico Verwer @ Dept. of Computer Science, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
(verwer@cs.ruu.nl)