CompuServe Messages

Cross-Dos 5 will allow you to transparently read and write MSDOS format disks directly in your Amiga drives. If you have a CBM High Density floppy drive (or one of the 20 meg floptical drives) it will read/write MSDOS formatted High Density drives as well as the low density (720K) floppy disks. It can access files from any device in your system. I _think_ it will allow you to READ Atari ST disks, but I'm not sure… check with Leonard Poma at Consultron (313-459-7271) for more information. At $25 – $30, CROSS-DOS is a _MUST HAVE_ product for all Amiga users! A-Max comes in two flavors. Both require that you provide MAC PLUS ROMS (128K roms, 2 chips) and the MAC operating System. The external cartridge version, which plugs in to the external floppy port on the Amiga, and passes the port through, also requires that you have an external Mac compatible 800K floppy disk drive. The internal card version (A-MAX II+ card) allows you to read/write MAC 800k disks directly in your Amiga internal floppy drive, and gives you an AppleTalk port, a midi port and a serial port. If you have an Amiga HD floppy drive, A-Max II+ will read MAC high density floppy disks, as well as both MSDOS Low and High density floppy disks, using Apple File Exchange. A-MAX does _not_ multitask… it takes over the entire computer, and requires a reboot when you're done using it. It is a remarkable product for those who need Mac compatibility and don't want to buy a MAC. Here's an estimate of the cost involved in an AMAX system: set 128k ROMS…….. $150 (best guess… they can be hard to find) AMAXII CARTRIDGE….. $125 (less if you buy it used) MAC comp floppy…… $119 (only required with the cartridge version) AMAXII+ CARD……… $249 MAC OS…………… $100 (assuming you buy the MAC OS) Strongly recommended are: Flicker eliminator of some kind and an accellerated Amiga. So, either setup will run you around $500, give or take $50. I believe that Central Coast software still sells Mac-2-Dos, but it costs <continued>