Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!portal!atari!kbad
From: kbad@atari.UUCP (Ken Badertscher)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: ST Format, TOS 1.4 moans directed at Atari UK (was: HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL!)
Message-ID: <2013@atari.UUCP>
Date: 31 Jan 90 20:07:25 GMT
References: <1990@atari.UUCP> <2080@syma.sussex.ac.uk>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale, CA
Lines: 24

grahamt@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Graham Thomas) writes:

| ps. UK mags have been saying that disks formatted with the STE and TOS
| 1.6 are not readable by IBM PCs.  Any comments?

Sounds suspiciously like a case of bad floppy or old DOS.  The desktop
formatting code did not change AT ALL between Rainbow and STE TOS.

Compatibility problems can arise with old MS-DOS versions which use a
magical "media descriptor byte" rather than the proper parameter block
information from the boot sector of a floppy.  The "media descriptor
byte" is not supported by GEMDOS, nor is it supported by Microsoft any
more.  Incompatibilities also exist among certain PC drives - not only
with ST formatted disks, but with PC formatted disks as well.

Am I being paranoid, or has there really been a proclivity on the part
of the press (UK and elsewhere) to slam the STE???  I've heard more
negative rumours and outright lies about the STE than any other recent
Atari development.  I wonder why this is?

-- 
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>