Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cica!iuvax!valnet!joseph From: joseph@valnet.UUCP (Joseph P. Hillenburg) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Novice questions: PCs, printers etc. Message-ID: Date: 18 Sep 90 01:39:38 GMT References: <367@skye.cs.ed.ac.uk> Organization: Valley BBS Network Lines: 109 db@cs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Berry) writes: > I'm considering buying an Amiga - a 200 if I can afford it, more likely > a 500. I have a few (10) questions, which I'd be grateful if someone could > answer for me. > > > 1. It's essential that I can transfer data files from the Amiga to > a PC and vice versa. Recent articles on this newsgroup suggest that > several people do this. Would I need an external drive to read/write > 3.5" PC disks, or could I use the internal drive? How much does > the software cost? There is a PD (ShareWare?) program called Messy-DOS that allows you to use a standard Amiga drive as a PC drive. You can even use programs like DeluxePaint III on it to directly import files from PC disks. To the Amiga, it's just another filesystem. It costs nothing to get ahold of it. > > 2. Can Amiga software use the built-in fonts of matrix and daisy wheel > printers for draft of high quality copies? Obviously not all > documents could be printed using built-in fonts, but I'd like to be > able to use them for ASCII files and wordprocessor files. Amigas can use any printer made for PC printers as long as there is a driver. Not to worry though...al but the most rare printer drivers are included with AmigaDOS. > > 3. Can postscript generated by an Amiga program be printed on an > Apple Laserwriter? Certainly. Simply plug the printerto your serial or parallel port and stick the proper driver in DEVS: > > 4. What is a flicker-fixer, and how necessary is it? There is currently a problem with AmigaDOS that involves interlace flicker. The next version (2.0) provides the needed changes to get rid of this. If I were you, I'd wait 'til the release of AmigaDOS 2.0 before buying an Amiga. > > 5. How do the AT bridgeboards and Mac boards access the screen? > Does the Amiga screen look like the PC/Mac screen to programs running > on these boards? How does the resolution of the Amiga screen compare\ They route it through the Amiga's chips. They look exactly like any ordinary PC or Mac, except the Mac screen can have two colors of of your choice. The resolution is identical, except for A-Max II (Thr Mac emulator) which allows larger than usualy Mac screens. The resolution can vary from the standard size (I forget the exact dimensions) and 1008x800. Hopefully, the next version will supportthe newer 256k and 512k Mac ROMs, as well as Mac 24 bit color... > with the PC and Mac? > > 6. The range of software for the Amiga seems a bit limited, apart from > music and graphics packages (which I'm not really interested in). > Are DTP packages like Ventura and PageMaker supported on the Amiga? > Which wordprocessor and database would you recommend? Ventura isn't right now, but Gold Disk's Professional Page nad PageSetter II (The low end) and SoftLogik's PageStream are very comparable, although Pro Page would stand a better chance. I recommend Precision SoftWare's SuperBase Pro and Brown-Wagh's Pen Pal (database and word processor respectively). > > 7. Is UNIX available or going to be available for the 2000? (I've > seen the recent posts about MINIX, which is encouraging, but I'd > like to know about the Commodore version). Commodore is making a UNIX which AT&T is using to demo UNIX V.4. It is expected to be out by early winter. It fits AT&T's specs, and is an official UNIX. It also adds BSD UNIX as well. > > 8. Are Prolog or Smalltalk available for the Amiga? > > 9. I was expecting to find more games avaiable for the Amiga than the > PC, but it seems that strategy games (like SSI products for the PC) > aren't as common as arcade and adventure games, which I'm not > really interested in. Is this impression right? > > 10. I've seen some articles in this newsgroup criticising the Amiga's > graphics capabilities. Are people comparing Amiga graphics with > PC graphics or with more powerful machines aimed at the workstation > market? > > Thank you for your patience in reading this far. > > -- > Dave Berry, LFCS, Edinburgh Uni. db%lfcs.ed.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk > > Snuffsaidbutgorblimeyguvstonemeifhedidn'tthrowawobblerchachachachachacha > chachachachachayou'regoinghomeinacosmicambience. -Joseph Hillenburg UUCP: ...iuvax!valnet!joseph INET: joseph@valnet.UUCP ARPA: valnet!joseph@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu