Falcon for Atari
=========================================================================
(C) 1992 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May
be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie
are *official* information services of Atari Corporation.
To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon
connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your
information.
==========================================================================
THE FALCON 030 / ATARI CORPORATION REALTIME CONFERENCE
FEATURING SAM TRAMIEL, PRESIDENT OF ATARI CORPORATION
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1992
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> On behalf of the Atari ST Roundtable, I welcome all of
you to the Atari Corporation RealTime Conference featuring Sam Tramiel,
president of Atari.
Before getting started, some business about how an RTC works.
While the RTC room is in Listen-Only mode, you can only address our guest
when I let you talk.
To get my attention, just /RAIse your hand. Just enter this from your
keyboard: /rai
I'll acknowledge your raised hand as soon as I can, but please be patient.
I -WILL- let you know when your turn is coming up.
Some other RTC commands are:
? - Lists all RTC commands.
/sta - Status (list) of everyone in
the RTC room.
/exi - Exit the RTC, but you remain
logged onto GEnie.
/bye - Log off of GEnie directly from
the RTC.
/rai - Raise your hand. Lets me know
you wish to address our guest.
With that out of the way, let us proceed.
Later this month, Atari will be unveiling the Falcon 030 to the world at
the Atari Messe in Duesseldorf Germany. The Falcon has generated a lot of
speculation and rumors over its features and abilities, as well as hopes
for the future of Atari in the computer industry.
Tonight we get a sneak preview of the Falcon. Before the crowds at Atari
Messe get to ogle the Falcon, Sam Tramiel will give us a guided tour and
answer our questions.
I know that many of you will have questions you'll wish to ask Sam, so
I'll try to get to as many of you as I can. When it is your turn, you'll
get to ask only one question during that turn. But you can have as many
turns as time allows. After you ask your question, /RAI your hand again
to be put back in line.
The purpose of this Realtime Conference is to get out factual information
about the Falcon. Anything else that Sam is prepared to share with us
will be icing on the cake. Please understand if Sam cannot answer
specific questions about things like marketing, future products, and other
non-Falcon related questions at this time.
Sam, thank you for being with us this evening. I understand you have some
prepared text to upload to us about the Falcon. You may begin the upload
at your convenience.
<STRAMIEL> Good evening, all. I'm very pleased to be here on our official
online service, GEnie once again. We're excited to be celebrating the
20th anniversary of Atari Corporation this year. We're especially excited
because this is a time that we can introduce another milestone product to
the world.
I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize some people that have been
close allies of Atari Corporation. The entire staff of the Atari RTs on
GEnie, under the leadership of Darlah Potechin have been providing stellar
support to our customers for a number of years now. I'm grateful for the
support of Darlah, Sandy Wilson, Jeff Williams and the rest of the GEnie
RT staff in supporting our mutual customers. We've just signed a new
agreement with GEnie, that will ensure the continuation of GEnie being our
online home.
In addition, I'm pleased to welcome the new publishers of Atari Explorer
Magazine, Mike Lindsay to Sunnyvale as well. As most of you know, we've
brought Explorer in to our corporate headquarters. John Jainschigg has
moved on to other challenges, and Mike Lindsay and Darren Meer are now at
the helm of Atari Explorer. Our online magazine, Atari Explorer Online,
is under the able leadership of Ron Kovacs. Ron is best known for his
years of experience as the publisher of Z*Net Online Magazine.
Tonight, we're pleased to be able to finally announce the Atari Falcon 030
Computer. This computer will be unveiled to the buying public at the
Duesseldorf Atari Messe in Germany next week. The Falcon is a machine that
we're very excited about. We think that it places us back in the
forefront of the "Power without the Price" place in the market.
Here's the specs on the Atari Falcon 030:
CPU: Motorola 68030 running at 16 Mhz
32-bit Bus
Optional 68881 or 68882 FPU
RAM: 1,4, or 14 megs
Standard Atari Cartridge Port
Motorola 56001 DSP chip
Expansion Bus:
Internal direct processor slot for 386SX PC emulation, or other
coprocessor
Graphics:
Super VGA graphics: 640x480 with 256 colors
True color 16 bit mode allowing a display of up to 65,536 colors
Accepts external video sync signal to allow high quality genlocking
Overlay mode for easy video titling and special effects
Overscan on TV's and ST Color monitors
262,144 possible colors
hardware-assisted horizontal fine scrolling
BLiTTER graphics co-processor
Sound features:
Eight 16 bit audio DMA record and playback channels
Stereo 16 bit digital DMA input
Stereo 16 bit DMA audio output
SDMA sound/DMA Coprocessor
Standard Ports:
SCSI II port with DMA
High speed LocalTalk compatible LAN
Connector for analog RGB color (ST or VGA) or composite video
RS232C serial port
Bidirectional parallel port
MIDI IN/MIDI OUT
Stereo microphone input, miniature stereo plug
Stereo audio out, miniature stereo plug
Two joystick connectors
Two enhanced digital/analog controller/light pen connectors
Data Storage:
1.44 Mbyte floppy disk drive
Optional internal IDE Hard Disk
System software:
Pre-emptive Multitasking with adaptive prioritzation (MultiTOS)
Inter process communication
NewDesk desktop and eXtensible control panel
Multiple window user interface; number of windows limited only by
memory or software in use.
We see this computer as exceeding all of the multimedia expectations of
the computer buying public. As well as being an exceptional value as a
home computer system.
Extensive testing with the Falcon has already been done on existing
software. We are very pleased with the high degree of compatibility.
For instance, PowerNet, a increasingly popular LocalTalk networking
solution works fine with no modifications. Calamus SL, PageStream,
WordFlair II, Cubase 3.0, STalker 3.0, STeno, Arabesque, and many other
well written applications will work perfectly.
That concludes our remarks, I hope you were all impressed with how fast I
can type!
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> Do you have a price ready to announce for the Falcon?
<STRAMIEL> No, we will announce the price at the Duesseldorf Atari Messe,
Jeff.
<ŽChris R. DRAGONWARE> Sam Thank you for the Plug: .. What kind of
Numbers will be avalible in the US and how soon?
<STRAMIEL> We are once again going to FCC and I realistically expect
shipements into the US in mid October.
<ŽMike M.HILL13> We have heard some developers have falcons already.
When will other registered developers be able to pick one up to start work
on them. I understand if this question needs to be answered in email.
<STRAMIEL> Please contact Bill Rehbock regarding this matter. He will be
happy to help you with this matter.
<ŽBigcat K.LONERGAN> Are MIDI ports included?
<STRAMIEL> YES, MIDI ports are included with the Falcon. We fully support
the MIDI standard.
<ŽFAST TECH J.ALLEN27> Hi Sam, thanks for visiting GEnie again. Three
questions:
Is the Falcon going to stay black?
How are you going to market it...what venues, etc?
And is Multitos going to be 68040 compatible when released?
<STRAMIEL> Colors and marketing plans will be talked about at Duesseldorf
and after that show, Jim. I have to save something for next week. :)
And MultiTOS will be 68040 compatible! But sorry, we're not commenting
about 68040 machines.
<ŽScottJ S.CORLEY1> Sam , about the graphics capacity of the Falcon. Why
doesnt it have 800x600 or better yet 1024x768 graphics as that is the VGA
standard now. Also , has the BLiTTER chip been sped up to handle the extra
graphics bandwidth.
<STRAMIEL> Hi Scott. The BLiTTER Chip has been sped up to handle the extra
bandwith. The BLiTTER is now running at 16Mhz. VGA normally doesn't have
TRUE COLOR, which the ATARI FALCON DOES, and this machine is aimed at
having great color, great sound, and with the DSP chip, some wonderful new
applicatons.
<ŽAdvertise! B.KING8> 1) Are you going to Advertise, if so how? 2) What
is the deal with the GE Service contract? 3) Can we expect Desktop (ie.
Detachable keyboards) models and Tower versions?
<STRAMIEL> As I said before, all marketing announcements will be made at
Duesseldorf. I will not comment on future models of the Falcon. We are
talking today about a machine which will be shipping next week.
We don't want to make future announcements and get into trouble with
Vaporware. And by the way, for higher rez requirements, buy TTs! :)
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> Remember folks ... only one question per turn ... We have
a lot of folks waiting and not nearly enough time to accomodate everybody.
Thanks.
<R.PECORA> Has the recent Forbes article influenced Atari's future
marketing plans?
<STRAMIEL> My new office, which has a better view than my old one, is so
far quite satisfactory. And Richard Miller is in my old office. The
Forbes article was a mish-mash and misconstrued article full of half
truths. We are anxiously awaiting the release of the Atari Falcon to
bring us back to the forefront. The article has given us some laughs, but
otherwise has not affected us.
<OAWALKER> zEvening Sam Evening Sam (SBACE) PLEASE SHOW falcon at
Glendfale for all the So Cal Boys.
<STRAMIEL> We will try our best to show it. There will be a number of
fine developers there, like Lexicor Software showing Atari Falcon
applications.
<ŽSteveJ S.JACOBS6> Would you please name some of Falcon's designers?
<STRAMIEL> You mean our engineers?
<ŽSteveJ S.JACOBS6> Yes.
<STRAMIEL> The Atari Falcon was totally designed in house at Atari, and it
is not our practice to give out individuals names. So many people are,
and were involved in the project. They all worked very hard to bring this
to a reality!
<Žwants unix JM.HAWTHORNE> Is the expansion bus VME?
<STRAMIEL> No, it is not a VME bus. It is a direct processor slot that
gives developers more flexibility.
<ŽMarc M.RHODES8> How do you think the Falcon will compare w/ the
industry dominating IBM platform?
<STRAMIEL> There is no comparison! The Atari Falcon is far superior to the
PC platform. Our challenge is to get a lot of software for the platform,
and a lot of people to buy it.
<ŽGary G.STOLLMAN> Sam, you mentioned IBM emulation...How close to true
IBM 386 speed and power will this actually be...??? By this I mean like a
386 33 SX...?? Will this require an add on unit for more speed??
<STRAMIEL> Hi Gary. Bill Rehbock assures me that a PC Board will be shown
at Duesseldorf. We will give you specs after the show.
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> Any comments about performance?
<STRAMIEL> Not until after the show, Jeff. Sorry. It's not our product.
<P.LORIMER> Will the Falcon be sold with Multi-TOS, and will multi-TOS be
in the ROM's? From what I've heard it takes up close to a MEG if in RAM.
<STRAMIEL> Yes, the Atari Falcon will be sold with MultiTOS. It will
be a combination of ROM and disk based.
<S.AGARWAL> Sam, Why no DMA (ACSI) port .... How shall I connect my SLM
804 to the falcon ?
<STRAMIEL> We felt that the DMA port was not enough of a standard port.
That's why we went to SCSI II. There are several third party companys
that are working on a converter box to allow you to connect up your SLM to
the Atari Falcon 030. The SCSI is much faster than DMA, too.
<NEVIN-S> Thanks for coming tonight, Sam. As a developer who depends on
sales of Atari software for a good portion of my living, I am excited
about the new Falcon. On the other hand, I see more and more people being
fired from Atari, entire divisions being closed down, etc. Atari seems to
be very good at cutting costs, but is this really the time to cut costs?
I am concerned that once again Atari will have a great machine
technically, but that the corporation behind it won't be strong enough to
make the Falcon fly.
<STRAMIEL> We are "right sizing" our company to reflect our current rate
of sales. We must conserve assests for future growth with products like
Atari Falcon. Example, with the new North America free trade agreement,
we felt that we could handle Canadian sales logistically from Sunnyvale
and have sales people in Canada and the US handling both countries in a
north/south direction.
We will support the Atari Falcon throughout the world. And need
developers like you to support it as well.
<ŽThe EDGE C.ROSE4> I've been using 1040 ST because of it's MIDI
capabilities. I also use C-lab's Notator. I wanted to buy a TT, but
Notator won't run on it. Will the Falcon support this product?
<STRAMIEL> The new version of Notator will run fine on a Falcon, just as
the new version will run on the TT030.
<E.MONACO> Is 16Mhz viable running multiple aplications? What can we
expect?
<STRAMIEL> We've found it to work just fine. The 68030 is well suited for
multi-tasking.
<B.SALDANA1> the Falcon inspired me to design an attractive monitor stand
for it called the STATION Žfaxed B.Rhebock. Has it been inspiring new or
old software devlopers? „I'll send you one Sam>
<STRAMIEL> At a recent Atari Falcon devloper conference, „organized by the
capable Bill Rehbock† in the UK, I was very happy to learn about new
developers and some exciting software which is already being developed.
The machines spec are so novel, that developers really have to figure out
all the new, wonderful things that they can do with it. I'm sure that
we'll see great software within the next 6 months. Thanks for the offer
of the monitor stand, I'll look forward to it!!!
<ŽJ.M.T. J.TORRES17> Sir, Is the Falcon fully 1040STe compatable
(graphics, 8Mhz, TOS, etc)? or more like the TT?
<STRAMIEL> The Atari Falcon is VERY STE compatible. Much more so that
the TT030 is. We really try to make our products as compatible as
possible.
<ŽNot Sam T. SAM-RAPP> Does this "Official Announcement" mean that all
these "Gagged" developers can start talking nitty gritty with us info
starved masses? At least some info? ;>
<STRAMIEL> No more on our product, but they will be welcome to discuss
the applications that they are developing that will be Falcon specific.
<WORDFLAIR> Sam, we are excited about the Falcon. We will be launching
several new products that take full advantage of its power later this
fall. The products are being developed by us and by Digital Arts, GmbH,
the former development team for 3K Computerbild.
<STRAMIEL> Lauren, it's always a pleasure to have you as part of the
Atari team. Thank you for your support!!
<ŽRon AD-VANTAGE> The Falcon sounds wonderful Sam!
Could you discuss in general terms some of the new software in
development for the Falcon and what do you think the most significant
impact of the DSP hardware will be on such new applications?
<STRAMIEL> I cannot give exact details tonight, but I think that the DSP
hardware will open up a whole new realm of communicat
(C) 1992 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May
be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie
are *official* information services of Atari Corporation.
To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon
connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your
information.
==========================================================================
THE FALCON 030 / ATARI CORPORATION REALTIME CONFERENCE
FEATURING SAM TRAMIEL, PRESIDENT OF ATARI CORPORATION
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1992
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> On behalf of the Atari ST Roundtable, I welcome all of
you to the Atari Corporation RealTime Conference featuring Sam Tramiel,
president of Atari.
Before getting started, some business about how an RTC works.
While the RTC room is in Listen-Only mode, you can only address our guest
when I let you talk.
To get my attention, just /RAIse your hand. Just enter this from your
keyboard: /rai
I'll acknowledge your raised hand as soon as I can, but please be patient.
I -WILL- let you know when your turn is coming up.
Some other RTC commands are:
? - Lists all RTC commands.
/sta - Status (list) of everyone in
the RTC room.
/exi - Exit the RTC, but you remain
logged onto GEnie.
/bye - Log off of GEnie directly from
the RTC.
/rai - Raise your hand. Lets me know
you wish to address our guest.
With that out of the way, let us proceed.
Later this month, Atari will be unveiling the Falcon 030 to the world at
the Atari Messe in Duesseldorf Germany. The Falcon has generated a lot of
speculation and rumors over its features and abilities, as well as hopes
for the future of Atari in the computer industry.
Tonight we get a sneak preview of the Falcon. Before the crowds at Atari
Messe get to ogle the Falcon, Sam Tramiel will give us a guided tour and
answer our questions.
I know that many of you will have questions you'll wish to ask Sam, so
I'll try to get to as many of you as I can. When it is your turn, you'll
get to ask only one question during that turn. But you can have as many
turns as time allows. After you ask your question, /RAI your hand again
to be put back in line.
The purpose of this Realtime Conference is to get out factual information
about the Falcon. Anything else that Sam is prepared to share with us
will be icing on the cake. Please understand if Sam cannot answer
specific questions about things like marketing, future products, and other
non-Falcon related questions at this time.
Sam, thank you for being with us this evening. I understand you have some
prepared text to upload to us about the Falcon. You may begin the upload
at your convenience.
<STRAMIEL> Good evening, all. I'm very pleased to be here on our official
online service, GEnie once again. We're excited to be celebrating the
20th anniversary of Atari Corporation this year. We're especially excited
because this is a time that we can introduce another milestone product to
the world.
I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize some people that have been
close allies of Atari Corporation. The entire staff of the Atari RTs on
GEnie, under the leadership of Darlah Potechin have been providing stellar
support to our customers for a number of years now. I'm grateful for the
support of Darlah, Sandy Wilson, Jeff Williams and the rest of the GEnie
RT staff in supporting our mutual customers. We've just signed a new
agreement with GEnie, that will ensure the continuation of GEnie being our
online home.
In addition, I'm pleased to welcome the new publishers of Atari Explorer
Magazine, Mike Lindsay to Sunnyvale as well. As most of you know, we've
brought Explorer in to our corporate headquarters. John Jainschigg has
moved on to other challenges, and Mike Lindsay and Darren Meer are now at
the helm of Atari Explorer. Our online magazine, Atari Explorer Online,
is under the able leadership of Ron Kovacs. Ron is best known for his
years of experience as the publisher of Z*Net Online Magazine.
Tonight, we're pleased to be able to finally announce the Atari Falcon 030
Computer. This computer will be unveiled to the buying public at the
Duesseldorf Atari Messe in Germany next week. The Falcon is a machine that
we're very excited about. We think that it places us back in the
forefront of the "Power without the Price" place in the market.
Here's the specs on the Atari Falcon 030:
CPU: Motorola 68030 running at 16 Mhz
32-bit Bus
Optional 68881 or 68882 FPU
RAM: 1,4, or 14 megs
Standard Atari Cartridge Port
Motorola 56001 DSP chip
Expansion Bus:
Internal direct processor slot for 386SX PC emulation, or other
coprocessor
Graphics:
Super VGA graphics: 640x480 with 256 colors
True color 16 bit mode allowing a display of up to 65,536 colors
Accepts external video sync signal to allow high quality genlocking
Overlay mode for easy video titling and special effects
Overscan on TV's and ST Color monitors
262,144 possible colors
hardware-assisted horizontal fine scrolling
BLiTTER graphics co-processor
Sound features:
Eight 16 bit audio DMA record and playback channels
Stereo 16 bit digital DMA input
Stereo 16 bit DMA audio output
SDMA sound/DMA Coprocessor
Standard Ports:
SCSI II port with DMA
High speed LocalTalk compatible LAN
Connector for analog RGB color (ST or VGA) or composite video
RS232C serial port
Bidirectional parallel port
MIDI IN/MIDI OUT
Stereo microphone input, miniature stereo plug
Stereo audio out, miniature stereo plug
Two joystick connectors
Two enhanced digital/analog controller/light pen connectors
Data Storage:
1.44 Mbyte floppy disk drive
Optional internal IDE Hard Disk
System software:
Pre-emptive Multitasking with adaptive prioritzation (MultiTOS)
Inter process communication
NewDesk desktop and eXtensible control panel
Multiple window user interface; number of windows limited only by
memory or software in use.
We see this computer as exceeding all of the multimedia expectations of
the computer buying public. As well as being an exceptional value as a
home computer system.
Extensive testing with the Falcon has already been done on existing
software. We are very pleased with the high degree of compatibility.
For instance, PowerNet, a increasingly popular LocalTalk networking
solution works fine with no modifications. Calamus SL, PageStream,
WordFlair II, Cubase 3.0, STalker 3.0, STeno, Arabesque, and many other
well written applications will work perfectly.
That concludes our remarks, I hope you were all impressed with how fast I
can type!
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> Do you have a price ready to announce for the Falcon?
<STRAMIEL> No, we will announce the price at the Duesseldorf Atari Messe,
Jeff.
<ŽChris R. DRAGONWARE> Sam Thank you for the Plug: .. What kind of
Numbers will be avalible in the US and how soon?
<STRAMIEL> We are once again going to FCC and I realistically expect
shipements into the US in mid October.
<ŽMike M.HILL13> We have heard some developers have falcons already.
When will other registered developers be able to pick one up to start work
on them. I understand if this question needs to be answered in email.
<STRAMIEL> Please contact Bill Rehbock regarding this matter. He will be
happy to help you with this matter.
<ŽBigcat K.LONERGAN> Are MIDI ports included?
<STRAMIEL> YES, MIDI ports are included with the Falcon. We fully support
the MIDI standard.
<ŽFAST TECH J.ALLEN27> Hi Sam, thanks for visiting GEnie again. Three
questions:
Is the Falcon going to stay black?
How are you going to market it...what venues, etc?
And is Multitos going to be 68040 compatible when released?
<STRAMIEL> Colors and marketing plans will be talked about at Duesseldorf
and after that show, Jim. I have to save something for next week. :)
And MultiTOS will be 68040 compatible! But sorry, we're not commenting
about 68040 machines.
<ŽScottJ S.CORLEY1> Sam , about the graphics capacity of the Falcon. Why
doesnt it have 800x600 or better yet 1024x768 graphics as that is the VGA
standard now. Also , has the BLiTTER chip been sped up to handle the extra
graphics bandwidth.
<STRAMIEL> Hi Scott. The BLiTTER Chip has been sped up to handle the extra
bandwith. The BLiTTER is now running at 16Mhz. VGA normally doesn't have
TRUE COLOR, which the ATARI FALCON DOES, and this machine is aimed at
having great color, great sound, and with the DSP chip, some wonderful new
applicatons.
<ŽAdvertise! B.KING8> 1) Are you going to Advertise, if so how? 2) What
is the deal with the GE Service contract? 3) Can we expect Desktop (ie.
Detachable keyboards) models and Tower versions?
<STRAMIEL> As I said before, all marketing announcements will be made at
Duesseldorf. I will not comment on future models of the Falcon. We are
talking today about a machine which will be shipping next week.
We don't want to make future announcements and get into trouble with
Vaporware. And by the way, for higher rez requirements, buy TTs! :)
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> Remember folks ... only one question per turn ... We have
a lot of folks waiting and not nearly enough time to accomodate everybody.
Thanks.
<R.PECORA> Has the recent Forbes article influenced Atari's future
marketing plans?
<STRAMIEL> My new office, which has a better view than my old one, is so
far quite satisfactory. And Richard Miller is in my old office. The
Forbes article was a mish-mash and misconstrued article full of half
truths. We are anxiously awaiting the release of the Atari Falcon to
bring us back to the forefront. The article has given us some laughs, but
otherwise has not affected us.
<OAWALKER> zEvening Sam Evening Sam (SBACE) PLEASE SHOW falcon at
Glendfale for all the So Cal Boys.
<STRAMIEL> We will try our best to show it. There will be a number of
fine developers there, like Lexicor Software showing Atari Falcon
applications.
<ŽSteveJ S.JACOBS6> Would you please name some of Falcon's designers?
<STRAMIEL> You mean our engineers?
<ŽSteveJ S.JACOBS6> Yes.
<STRAMIEL> The Atari Falcon was totally designed in house at Atari, and it
is not our practice to give out individuals names. So many people are,
and were involved in the project. They all worked very hard to bring this
to a reality!
<Žwants unix JM.HAWTHORNE> Is the expansion bus VME?
<STRAMIEL> No, it is not a VME bus. It is a direct processor slot that
gives developers more flexibility.
<ŽMarc M.RHODES8> How do you think the Falcon will compare w/ the
industry dominating IBM platform?
<STRAMIEL> There is no comparison! The Atari Falcon is far superior to the
PC platform. Our challenge is to get a lot of software for the platform,
and a lot of people to buy it.
<ŽGary G.STOLLMAN> Sam, you mentioned IBM emulation...How close to true
IBM 386 speed and power will this actually be...??? By this I mean like a
386 33 SX...?? Will this require an add on unit for more speed??
<STRAMIEL> Hi Gary. Bill Rehbock assures me that a PC Board will be shown
at Duesseldorf. We will give you specs after the show.
<ŽSysop JEFF.W> Any comments about performance?
<STRAMIEL> Not until after the show, Jeff. Sorry. It's not our product.
<P.LORIMER> Will the Falcon be sold with Multi-TOS, and will multi-TOS be
in the ROM's? From what I've heard it takes up close to a MEG if in RAM.
<STRAMIEL> Yes, the Atari Falcon will be sold with MultiTOS. It will
be a combination of ROM and disk based.
<S.AGARWAL> Sam, Why no DMA (ACSI) port .... How shall I connect my SLM
804 to the falcon ?
<STRAMIEL> We felt that the DMA port was not enough of a standard port.
That's why we went to SCSI II. There are several third party companys
that are working on a converter box to allow you to connect up your SLM to
the Atari Falcon 030. The SCSI is much faster than DMA, too.
<NEVIN-S> Thanks for coming tonight, Sam. As a developer who depends on
sales of Atari software for a good portion of my living, I am excited
about the new Falcon. On the other hand, I see more and more people being
fired from Atari, entire divisions being closed down, etc. Atari seems to
be very good at cutting costs, but is this really the time to cut costs?
I am concerned that once again Atari will have a great machine
technically, but that the corporation behind it won't be strong enough to
make the Falcon fly.
<STRAMIEL> We are "right sizing" our company to reflect our current rate
of sales. We must conserve assests for future growth with products like
Atari Falcon. Example, with the new North America free trade agreement,
we felt that we could handle Canadian sales logistically from Sunnyvale
and have sales people in Canada and the US handling both countries in a
north/south direction.
We will support the Atari Falcon throughout the world. And need
developers like you to support it as well.
<ŽThe EDGE C.ROSE4> I've been using 1040 ST because of it's MIDI
capabilities. I also use C-lab's Notator. I wanted to buy a TT, but
Notator won't run on it. Will the Falcon support this product?
<STRAMIEL> The new version of Notator will run fine on a Falcon, just as
the new version will run on the TT030.
<E.MONACO> Is 16Mhz viable running multiple aplications? What can we
expect?
<STRAMIEL> We've found it to work just fine. The 68030 is well suited for
multi-tasking.
<B.SALDANA1> the Falcon inspired me to design an attractive monitor stand
for it called the STATION Žfaxed B.Rhebock. Has it been inspiring new or
old software devlopers? „I'll send you one Sam>
<STRAMIEL> At a recent Atari Falcon devloper conference, „organized by the
capable Bill Rehbock† in the UK, I was very happy to learn about new
developers and some exciting software which is already being developed.
The machines spec are so novel, that developers really have to figure out
all the new, wonderful things that they can do with it. I'm sure that
we'll see great software within the next 6 months. Thanks for the offer
of the monitor stand, I'll look forward to it!!!
<ŽJ.M.T. J.TORRES17> Sir, Is the Falcon fully 1040STe compatable
(graphics, 8Mhz, TOS, etc)? or more like the TT?
<STRAMIEL> The Atari Falcon is VERY STE compatible. Much more so that
the TT030 is. We really try to make our products as compatible as
possible.
<ŽNot Sam T. SAM-RAPP> Does this "Official Announcement" mean that all
these "Gagged" developers can start talking nitty gritty with us info
starved masses? At least some info? ;>
<STRAMIEL> No more on our product, but they will be welcome to discuss
the applications that they are developing that will be Falcon specific.
<WORDFLAIR> Sam, we are excited about the Falcon. We will be launching
several new products that take full advantage of its power later this
fall. The products are being developed by us and by Digital Arts, GmbH,
the former development team for 3K Computerbild.
<STRAMIEL> Lauren, it's always a pleasure to have you as part of the
Atari team. Thank you for your support!!
<ŽRon AD-VANTAGE> The Falcon sounds wonderful Sam!
Could you discuss in general terms some of the new software in
development for the Falcon and what do you think the most significant
impact of the DSP hardware will be on such new applications?
<STRAMIEL> I cannot give exact details tonight, but I think that the DSP
hardware will open up a whole new realm of communicat
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