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From: blgardne@suns.es.com@bambam.UUCP (Blaine Gardner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Apple ][ card for Amiga (was: Re: SoftPC for the Amiga 3000)
Message-ID: <2230@bambam.UUCP>
Date: 5 Sep 90 18:45:46 GMT
References: <2178@bambam.UUCP> <1990Sep03.213017.21090@ecst.csuchico.edu> <2224@bambam.UUCP>
Sender: news@bambam.UUCP
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah
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pashdown@shotput.es.com (Pete Ashdown)@bambam.UUCP writes:
>mrush@csuchico.edu (Matt "C P." Rush) writes:
>>	How compatible were Laser's ROMs?  Since ROM jumping was a standard
>>programming practice on the Apple ][ I wouldn't expect anything to run on 
>>less than the REAL ROMs.  I always figured that Laser was just buying ROMs
>>from Apple (or making the buyer get his own)...

>They were about 99.9% compatible.  I didn't own a Laser, but my friend
>(blgardne@esunix) was a dealer for them.  IMHO, the Laser ROMs were BETTER
>than what Apple produced for their //c's.  More features and the like.  Laser
>wrote their OWN ROMs in conjunction with Franklin after Apple sued Franklin
>over the ROM issue.

Hmmm, I thought my ears were burning. Actually I'd peg compatibility for
the Laser 128 at about 95-98%. Some of the really old stuff didn't run,
but almost everything important did. And there were regular ROM
revisions to improve compatibility (every 2-4 months or so). It's been
several years since I really dealt with the Lasers, so I'm not sure what
things are like today.

The ROMs were actually written by a subsidiary of Central Point Software
(Copy ][+, Copy IIPC, PC Tools, etc.) for the maker of the Laser 128.
And if I rememeber correctly, they also wrote the original Franklin
ROMs, so they were in a perfect position to know what Apple considered
infringement.

Since PC Tools is one of the most popular MS-DOS software packages, and
since they ported Copy II to everything BUT the Amiga, I don't think they'd
have a whole lot of interest in doing anything with as limited a market
as an Apple II emulator for the Amiga. Why go to all that effort and
expense when you're making a fortune in the MS-DOS software market?

Personally, my Apple II emulation needs were fulfilled by seeing "II in
a Mac" running on the Amiga under Amax. 

Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland  580 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108
blgardne@esunix.UUCP                       BIX: blaine_g
{decwrl, utah-cs}!esunix!blgardne        
DoD #0046                               The Borg killed Laura Palmer!