CompuServe Messages

Haven't used text-based development packages, unless you count BASIC, and then my efforts were extremely modest. One of my production staffers tried to get me to buy him Director (which I think is still marketed), but my thought was that he just wouldn't be able to get into it. Icon-based stuff is better for most folks. AMOS is very hot in Europe where it's used for commercial application development. Apparently it is close enough to BASIC that you could perhaps port the resulting application to other platforms. There are customized versions of AMOS that are tailored to specific needs, e.g., games development. I notice that Safe Harbor mail order continually lists AMOS as a top ten seller at its store, so maybe it's catching on stateside. The Amiga is blessed with some good BASIC packages, such as HiSoft BASIC and a couple of others, with solid multimedia routines. AMOS has its roots in BASIC, as I understand it. Write in BASIC, and porting the application to other platforms is about as easy as it's going to get. TTR Development (now defunct) used CanDo for product development. I believe interfaces for a couple of its products were CanDo based, among them the slick-looking Workbench Management System, which, before its demise, TTR was planning to port over to Windows. But that's all I know. A Quicktime-compliant multimedia development package for the Amiga would seem a prudent step forward. — Ron Legro from Milwaukee via AUTOPILOT (The only way to fly)