Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!purdue!decwrl!sun!imagen!atari!apratt
From: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: TOS 1.4 vs NEODESK and UIS-II
Message-ID: <1385@atari.UUCP>
Date: 13 Mar 89 20:42:22 GMT
References: <8903100344.AA03075@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <418@ultb.UUCP>
Reply-To: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Organization: Atari (US) Corporation, Sunnyvale, California
Lines: 24

In article <418@ultb.UUCP> clf3678@ultb.UUCP (C.L. Freemesser (709ITP)) writes:
> If the size of the program is too big for the 256k chips we use now,
> Atari could:
> 
> 1) Put out a smaller version (if this is possible) to fit into our
>    machines.

TOS 1.4 certainly DOES fit in 192K (the ROM space for all STs), and you
CAN upgrade a 520 or 1040 or Mega-2 or Mega-4...  I don't know why you
think you can't. 

Some newer Megas have only two ROM chips, but that's because those two
parts are cheaper than six parts.  The addressable ROM space is the same
for all current ST machines: 192K.  The six-chip sets have 256K *bits*
per chip, or 32Kbytes, and 192K is 32K times six.  The two-chip sets
have 1024K *bits* or 128Kbytes per chip, 256K total ROM space, but the
ST can only address 192K of that. 

TOS 1.4 will be available in both two-chip and six-chip sets, and can be
put in all machines.

============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily	-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.	  ...ames!atari!apratt