Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!leah!bingvaxu!sunybcs!sybil.cs.Buffalo.EDU!dill
From: dill@sybil.cs.Buffalo.EDU (Peter Dill)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: AmigaBasic
Message-ID: <28196@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 13 Jun 90 19:22:39 GMT
References: <1930@bnlux0.bnl.gov> <13416@wpi.wpi.edu> <2675c414-219d.2comp.sys.amiga-1@tronsbox.UUCP>
Sender: news@acsu.Buffalo.EDU
Distribution: na
Organization: SUNY@Buffalo Comp Sci and Medicated Ointment
Lines: 32

In article <2675c414-219d.2comp.sys.amiga-1@tronsbox.UUCP> bleys@tronsbox.UUCP (Bill Cavanaugh) writes:
>>Hopefully, Commodore will continue to upgrade AmigaBASIC.
>
>For better or worse, Commodore has nothing to do with AmigaBasic.  It was
>written, and the rights were retained, by MicroSoft.  Can anybody imagine
>Bill Gates trying to push Amiga sales?

The May 14th issue of "MicroTimes" reports on p98:
    The version of MicroSoft BASIC included with the consumer A500 is
    an upgrade from the current version. MicroSoft has fixed the bugs that
    have plagued its current release, and in fact Commodore will market the 
    new version as a stand alone product for those customers who do not 
    receive it bundeled with their machines (A500 Pro, A2000, A3000).

Ooo, a real test for their "zero bugs" policy.

>You're right, there should be a Basic or Pascal interpreter packaged with
>the machine, but right now, they're going with AmigaVision, which is a much
>more useful tool for the average user, rather than for programmers.  ARexx
>is in there for the frustrated programmer in the audience, too!

   Both Pascal and BASIC are totally lame languages and just encourge the
new user to waste time on them. As much as I like it, compiled C might be too 
difficult for the begining programmer and a Commodore product would
compete with the commercial versions. Maybe they could make an interperted
version of C could replace AmigaBASIC and solve both these problems.
Anyway it will be intresting to see which of their product's many bugs
MicroSoft has decided to fix.

                                                     Peter Dill 
                                                     dill@cs.buffalo.edu
"Never send a monster to do the work of an evil genius"