CompuServe Thread

Well, as promised, here's my report on the A3000 rollout at the Palladium this morning: In a barrage of sight and sound, Commodore defined their vision of Multimedia and reclaimed it from the attempted usurpation of Apple and IBM. USING the A3000 to create and run the entire show, Harold Copperman (Chief Operating Officer) and C. Lloyd Mahaffey (VP of Marketing) presented the A3000 as the next generation Amiga. Available upon leaving the Palladium were the latest issues of AmigaWorld and Byte (recently reported here as having prematurely permitted their latest issue to the newsstands) both featuring the new machine. With a list price of $3299 for the base unit (68030 @ 16 Mhz w/ 68881 and 40 MB HD, 2 MB RAM — 1 MB Chip, 1 MB Fast, 3.5" floppy disk drive, SCSI adapter on motherboard, BridgeBoard compatibility) $3,999 for the 25 Mhz/68882 equipped unit, and $4,999 for a 100 MB version, Commodore is clearly agressively targeting the Apple Macintosh line of products. Also announced and on display was AmigaVision, Commodore's Multimedia Authoring system. Copperman drew the analogy in comparing the Amiga 3000 with Amigavision to the IBM PS2 as being like "…the difference between being at a rock concert and hearing a friend tell you about it." The Amiga 3000 is a full 32-bit machine capable of running a monitor at 15 or 31 Mhz, for which Commodore also introduced a new multiscanning monitor the 1950, due to retail at $799. Also introduced was Workbench 2.0, featuring a completely new, cleaner look that was described as a "3-d, embosse" look. Indeed, the OS did sport a look that was very like the NeXT computer. WB 2.0 is expected to run on all models except the 1000, although those of us who so choose to try, might have some luck with Greg Tibbs' Rejuvenator. WB 2.0 has totally redesigned the functionality of Workbench, including many user suggestions over the past years, including: running the WB icons in a separate window (to make them accessible even if a non-sizable WB windows is in the way), font selection for contents of windows, window titles and screen titles, including, it appeared, proportional fonts (when asked, Commodore reps would neither confirm nor deny any agreements with either Adobe or Compugraphics — presumably any such agreements have not been finalized), redesigning Preferences as a drawer containing specific modules such as workbench background, window backgrounds (including tiled patterns reminiscent of the Macintosh), a WBStartup window permitting certain programs to be automatically run on bootup, viewing of files without icons, executing single CLI commands from WB with an output window, executing commands by double clicking a WB supplied icon, even if no icon exists, and many more features (so many that I think I have forgotten at least half). Even more importantly, Copperman reemphasized Commodore's commitment to going after the business market. In conjunction with this statement, Mahaffey announced the A2065 Ethernet and A2060 Arcnet adaptors, as well as upcoming (in June) support for Novell Netware, TCP/IP, and NFS networking. The Ethernet for Novell will support release 2.15 or higher of Netware. Also to be supported will be X-windows, and DECnet. Also available, but not included in the presentation is a peer-to-peer network by Hydra Systems (of the UK) providing hard and floppy and peripheral sharing for Amigas. What does all this mean? (1) Commodore appears to be commited to MultiMedia at the low, mid and high end. (2) They are committed to business, with a much more professional looking machine, and networking hardware, the basic pieces are now present. (3) They seem to be committed to supporting the Amiga with the proper marketing, if the ads for the A500 at Christmas, and this rollout for the 3000 are any indication. (4) They may have goofed in not supporting 24 bit color on the machine in the OS, but some of the higher-end support for the card MAY be forthcoming from third-party developers. I think that Commodore was knocked for a loop by Apple on that count, and that they figured that they ought to capitalize on the strengths of the line as it stood. Probably, if they went for 24 bit capabilities, we might not have seen the 3000 for months. Who knows, since they really did succeed quite handsomely in keeping mum about the features they might even be working on the 24-bit board and support right now (unsubstantiated guess) (5) The inclusion of touch-screen capabilities (which I now realize I forgot to include earlier) means that the Amiga COULD ultimately be used in Executive Information Systems, as well as in museums or libraries. Commodore did an excellent job this morning, and *I* think that they are to be congratulated handsomely by we the users. We should go out and spread the word — **ONLY** Amiga makes it possible — RIGHT NOW! (this entire message and all messages by me, copyright 1990, Gabe Feder) –Gabe Feder