A500p?
16 messages in this thread
I'm glad they're calling it Microsoft Basic and not AmigaBasic! Put the
blame where it belongs: on Microsoft!
— Ethan
Alot of blame should fall on Microsoft when it comes to AmigaBASIC. Does
anyone know if it's been revised, yet?
Roger, I'm afraid that it's the end of the road for AmigaBasic. Commodore
and Microsoft didn't come to any agreement on it. As of the 2.0 upgrade,
AmigaBasic will no longer be included with the Amy.
Mmmmmmmm! Now THAT's a sweet piece of news! It opens up alot of
opportunities for existing language packages, providing AmigaVision isn't
seen as a substitute. I sure would like to see a nice language like COMAL
packaged with the Amiga (although that is a bit optimistic).
Roger, I'm hearing rumors that AREXX is to be considered the substitute.
……Betty
AmigaBASIC is still being worked on by MicroSoft; its just not currently
bundled with the A3000. I think that's the limit of the implications one
can reasonably draw. (drawing unreasonable implications is another
question 🙂 ) Whether AmigaBASIC is bundled or not is a marketing
decision, that may even change from country to country, depending on that
countries Commodore Marketing Dept. perception of the local market. It may
also vary from machine to machine. If you feel strongly one way or the
other (actually, better make it if you feel strongly to have it included,
since there's little point in lobbying to not be given something) send your
cards and latters to the appropriate Marketing VP.
Thanks for the reply, Andy – and how nice to see you here!
I do hope that AmigaBASIC will come to work on the 68030. That was the
part that worried me most. I'd also like to see it continue to be included
with all the machines. It is a very common language. Also, the schools
teach BASIC, and the teachers are not likely to soon agree to learn a new
language to teach. It was hard enough to get them to learn BASIC! I hope
to see huge quantities of Amigas in schools, and I think it would be a
hindrance if the schools had to purchase BASIC to use on them. (Must say,
though, that I would not want to teach BASIC with the current version of
AmigaBASIC. It would drive me AND the kids crazy! That editor is
horrible.)
I must say that I love AmigaVIsion, and am delighted to see that included
with all Amigas. If I were still teaching I would want an Amiga with that
program in my classroom every single day. I'm almost itching to create
some super deluxe math lessons with it!
……Betty
If you use NOFASTMEM to keep AmigaBASIC out of the 32 bit space (and use
the patched version that works with an 020) AmigaBASIC will function on an
A3000. I admit to not pushing it heavily, though 🙂
Nice to be here. Since I've resigned the flame topics from the start,
maybe I can stay longer this time 🙂
andy
Andy, seems just about every topic I participate in ends in up in Ramblings
<grin>. Generally, I think folks around here fight like cats and dogs in a
thread, but once outside of a given thread, they 'forgive and forget', so
to speak :).,, I'm working on improving the quality of my messages, trying
to stay out of Ramblings as much as possible, so maybe that'll help, too. I
certainly _don't_ want to be chasing you 'CBM tech-types' away! –Eet–
btw, how does one tell the 'patched' version of AmigaBASIC from the
non-patched version? (never heard of it before this) –Eet–
Director of Mayhem
Extra Terrestrial Imports, Ltd.
Eet – I thought that was what Andy meant, too. But I think we both
misinterpreted his message. I believe he meant a patched version of
NOFASTMEM.
……Betty
Andy, If you don't like the flame stuff, you can just about avoid it by
leaving Ramblings turned off. Once in a while it gets into Hot News and
Rumors. Rarely anywhere else. And I'll be glad to romp on them if they get
too hot! 🙂
I'll try NOFASTMEM on my '030 and see how things go – but I don't think I
knew about a patched version of AMigaBASIC.
If I were as fine a programmer as you are, I probably would not care about
BASIC one way or the other either. I do not plan to earn a living at
programming, though. I only want to write some little things for my own
entertainment, or to help someone learn something about the machine. For
those needs, BASIC fits quite well. C really requires regular practice, I
think, and I doubt that I shall ever practice enough to make it second
nature. Enough to read it with understanding, yes. Enough to write a few
short lines to illustrate a point, yes. But not enough to consider myself
really proficient. BASIC does not require that kind of commitment, which
may be one reason I like it.
……Betty
Andy! My goodness! (actually, something a little stronger 🙂 I'm thrilled
that you've shown up in 'tech!
What do you think of replacing AmigaBASIC with AmigaVision? Personally, I
think it's a good idea, since I would think, if AV is all I've heard it to
be, that it would be a lot easier for a lot more people to get work done
with AmigaVision than AmigaBASIC. Especially since we also have Arexx,
which I'm fairly certain is unaccessable from AmigaBASIC (?) Hope to chat
with you lots more 🙂 –Eet–
Director of Mayhem
Extra Terrestrial Imports, Ltd.
I don't really have any opinion…I'm willing to wait and see how the
public reacts, as I'm sure the Sales company is doing.
It all comes down to what the A3000 owner is trying to do with his/her
computer. For interactive lessons AV is wonderful. (a long time ago I did
a pilot, so I remember a little of it)
But if I were writing a quick & dirty bitmap compactor AV is probably not
my language of choice 🙂
andy
AmigaBASIC is being upgraded to work with 2.0 – I'm not sure if it will
work with the '030 chip, though. That would take a major re-write, because
AmigaBASIC was written to use the upper four bytes of the longwords for
data, and the '030 needs those bytes for addresses. This was terribly
short-sighted of Microsoft, I think, and has almost killed AmigaBASIC. I
hope some good BASIC continues to be around, though. Nearly a third of the
professional programmers in this country program in BASIC, I'm told (read
it in Dr. Dobbs' Journal, no less.) I would hate for the Amiga to be
without one.
……Betty
Yayyyy! Now finally they will put a real Basic in there, Like GFA or
HiSoft.
John
No John, the slot will be filled by AmigaVision instead. Commodore gets to
save paying the license fees to Microsoft.