Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!ut-sally!husc6!harvard!panda!genrad!decvax!decwrl!ucbvax!ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU!deboor
From: deboor@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.cbm
Subject: Re: GEOS Comments
Message-ID: <15094@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 1-Aug-86 21:21:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.15094
Posted: Fri Aug 1 21:21:27 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Aug-86 22:18:03 EDT
References: <231@cs1.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: wedgwood@buddy.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 79
Keywords: Is it really worth it?
Warning: My opinions may be tainted by the fact that I work for Berkeley
Softworks.
In article <231@cs1.UUCP> cbcscmst@cs1.UUCP (Michael Steven Temkin) writes:
>
>I bought GEOS and was VERY disapppointed. geoPaint is strictly hi-res not
>multi-color, the text option doesn't work and it saves the picture upon exit
>whether you want it to or not. (i.e. if you saved it to disk to keep a
>current copy while you play with it some more, then decide you don't want
>to save the messed up one but you do want to quit, you must recover the old
>one from disk or it will be overwritten by the current mess when you exit.)
Perhaps you are using version 1.0? Version 1.2 is available to registered users
who bought 1.0, and is the only version on sale at retail stores.
The geoPaint that I know from work is multi-color (limited by the C64s hardware
of course, 2 colors per card). The text works well. (Did you open a rectangle
to place the text in, before typing?) All fonts and styles area available in
geoPaint. If I recall correctly (I haven't used geoPaint extensively, only
occasionally) to quit without saving, you only need to select the 'quit' option
from the 'file' menu (rather than 'close').
>geoWrite is a basic type and write word processor. No frills such as a search
>feature or justification. (If you are looking for an EXCELLENT word processor
>with fonts, check out Fontmaster II). I purchased GEOS for $39.95 ($42.95
>w/shipping) from a software house the name of which escapes me, but they
>advertise in Compute! (Compu-). Fontmaster can be purchased by
>mail for $28.
There were several bugs in geoWrite 1.0 which were corrected before 1.2 was
released. Things are moving so fast at BSW that it is difficult for me to
remember exactly what the changes were.
I have not seen Fontmaster II, but I will say, in geoWrites favor, that you
are able to paste in pictures that you have created in geoPaint to get
quite a good effect in your document.
>But if you are hooked on buying GEOS, go to a software store and check it
>out first. It has no mouse driver as yet, but Mighty Mouse will work with
>it since it has a box to convert mouse signals to joystick signals, and
>can also be used as a mouse. The 1350 mouse is strictly joystick emulation.
Mice...The official company line is: "When Commodore releases a proportional
mouse (like the Macs) Berkeley Softworks will support it". (End company
line). The difference a proportional mouse makes is incredible.
Support is in the works for Koala-pads, and light-pens, as soon as we can
get to them.
Things that we are working on are:
A desk accessory pack, including:
Calendar program
Art Grabber (to take art from other applications and paste them
into geoPaint)
BlackJack program
Icon editor
A font pack, with a lot of neat fonts.
These are due out in a month (or so, no guarantees). (We just finished
Beta-testing).
Other applications are a SpreadSheet, a DataBase, Chart program, Rolodex,
Merge programs (to merge data with a geoWrite document, to create form letters).
These are being worked on now.
Anyway, I hope that this clears up some of the confusion about what GEOS has,
and what it will get in the future.
I apologize if this comes off as a commercial endorsement, it wasn't intended to
be. (Any flames to the address below).
Oh yeah, The disk speed up is great, but you should see it run off a Ram-disk.
WOW.
-wedge-
(please reply to wedgwood@buddy.Berkeley.Edu)