Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!uwvax!oddjob!gargoyle!ihnp4!cuae2!killer!ldf From: ldf@killer.UUCP (Leon Frenkel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.lang.modula2,comp.lang.pascal Subject: Re: *** NEW Modula-2 Product *** (Press Release) Message-ID: <1279@killer.UUCP> Date: Mon, 3-Aug-87 16:24:30 EDT Article-I.D.: killer.1279 Posted: Mon Aug 3 16:24:30 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 6-Aug-87 02:04:53 EDT References: <1168@killer.UUCP> <418@esunix.UUCP> Organization: The Unix(tm) Connection, Dallas, Texas Lines: 165 Summary: Answers to questions about product. Pre-release version available NOW! Xref: mnetor comp.sys.amiga:7084 comp.lang.modula2:255 comp.lang.pascal:239 in article <418@esunix.UUCP>, from bpendlet@esunix.UUCP (Bob Pendleton): >> in article <1168@killer.UUCP>, ldf@killer.UUCP (Leon Frenkel) says: >> Xref: esunix comp.sys.amiga:6433 comp.lang.modula2:248 comp.lang.pascal:193 >> >> BENCHMARK MODULA-2: SOFTWARE CONSTRUCTION SET FROM OXXI >> SETS NEW STANDARD FOR PROGRAMMING PRODUCTIVITY >> >> The suggested retail price for this incredible product is only $199. >> >> In addition the following add-on products are available for Benchmark >> Modula-2. > >> Each of the products described below has a suggested retail price of $99. >> >> 1. "C" Language Standard Library: This add-on product implements many >> 2. Simplified Amiga Libraries: This add-on product is useful to both the >> 3. IFF Libraries, Graphic Image Resource Management: This add-on > >This is the kind of product I've been waiting for. If it is real it could >be truely wonderful. But, how much memory does it require? How much disk >space does it use? What is their upgrade policy? How about bug fixes? What >about technical support? What kind of documentation is supplied? What >dealers are going to carry this product? Is it copy protected? How are >the manuals printed? Is it 2nd or 3rd edition Modula-2 or is it standards >committee Modula-2? From the mail we have been receiving, a lot of people agree with you that our Modula-2 is a truely wonderful product. Since many of the messages sent via mail ask many of the same questions I decided that a public reply to the above questions is apropriet. >If it is real it could be truely wonderful. YES, everything listed in the press release is finished and has been extensivly field tested. Further, most of the product has been operational since the end of last year and has been in daily use by our beta testers since that time. >But, how much memory does it require? Amiga A500, A1000 or A2000 with 512K of memory. On a 512K Amiga the user can have the EMACS Editor, Modula-2 Compiler, Modula-2 Linker and still have plently of room to load large Modula-2 programs into the editor to be compiled/linked/run. By adding as little as 512K of expansion memory the user can keep the Modula-2 libraries entirely in RAM and have a lot more additional memory to use for source text. >How much disk space does it use? The Modula-2 Compiler/Linker and EMACS Editor use less than 200K of disk space, however they are only loaded once and so it is not necessary to keep the disk containing them in the drive. The Modula-2 Libraries, including those in all of the add-on products occupie aproximately 50% of a disk. To put this in perspective some of our beta testers use the product on a 1 drive Amiga without any problems. Most of the beta testers up until recently have used the product on 512K 2-drive Amiga's with excellent results. >What is their upgrade policy? Upgrades with new features and major improvements will be available at aprox. $20 - $60 depending on the amount of new documentation, etc... >How about bug fixes? Bug fixes if there are any necessary, will be made available immediately at minial cost. >What about technical support? Telephone support will be provided by OXXI during normal business hours by our technical support staff. >What kind of documentation is supplied? Professionally written documentation, consisting of a User's Guide and a Reference Guide totaling over 800 pages. The documentation includes a thorough tutorial and many examples. Each add on product also includes extensive documentation describing the functions performed by each module. >What dealers are going to carry this product? The products will be available through all Amiga dealers. The products will be available world wide: U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Australia, etc... You can also purchase the products directly from OXXI. >Is it copy protected? NO, we beleive that our customers are honest and would never even consider making unauthorized copies of our products. >How are the manuals printed? All manuals are typeset and arranged by our documentation staff. >Is it 2nd or 3rd edition Modula-2 or is it standards committee Modula-2? The Modula-2 Compiler is based on the 3rd editor of N. Wirth's book Programming in Modula-2. The compiler also implements some useful extensions such as underscores in identifiers, and "C" language style string literals (i.e., "msg\n\r"). >If I buy the first release of a $500 software product I expect free, and >immediate, bug fixes and upgrades for at least a year. I would like to clarify the above statement, the suggested retail price for this product is $199 and it will be available through mail order dealers for even less. While it is true that this is the first release of the product, unlike many of the products you may be familiar with this product was more reliable in beta test form that most of the current products on the market after several releases! (I don't want to mention names.) The add-on products described in the press release are seperate products and should be considered as such. They are very useful but are certainly not required in order to write Modula-2 programs. >And there is noway I will buy it without a "test drive" at a dealer. > ... >I guess I'll just have to wait for a review in BYTE, and hope Go Amigo, >offers it for a good price. The product is currently being reviewed by most of the Amiga related magazines, a review in BYTE would be great but will probably not be possible in the near future, since they don't review Amiga products very often. I apreciate your desire to "test drive" the product, however I think in all fairness you should then make the purchase from the same dealer where you took the "test drive". At this time we have decided to make a pre-released version of the product available now to users who wish to begin using the product immediately. The pre-released product also contains ALL THREE of the add-on products mentioned in the announcement. The price is for this pre-release version is $199. The update to the final version is free to users who purchase the pre-release version now. I wan't to be perfectly clear on this point, the $199 price is a one time offer for the pre-released version and does not in any way effect the prices specified in the press release. To order the pre-release version contact OXXI at (714)-999-6710 and talk to John Houston. (* Leon Frenkel *) =========================================================================== Leon Frenkel (Chief Scientist) Oxxi, Inc. 1835-A Dawns Way Fullerton, California 92631 Phone: (714)-999-6710 FAX Machine: (714)-999-1045 UUCP Address: ...!killer!ldf ===========================================================================