🚀 go-pugleaf

	Okay, the info below is from what I've gleaned from various places, 
Compuserve and a recent dealers' meeting among them.

>I've heard various things on the new ST and 32-bit Unix based(??) TT.
> 
>Can anyone shed any accurate light on this topic?  Namely:
> 
>- release dates
	April seems to be the release date commonly given for the Mega ST's,
although I got the impression from the dealers' mtng that May or June may be
more likely.  They didn't say this (in fact they were saying April, I think),
but going from their track record and my impressions, I'm skeptical.

>- operating system
	The 'EST:' TOS/GEMDOS, I believe.  (After all, it's just going to be
an ST with improved graphics, from everything I've ever heard of it, going way
back to about October '85 -- yes, they were talking about an EST then, and
saying maybe early '86!).
	The 'TT:' definitely UNIX system V.  -Straight from the mouth of 
someone from Atari Canada at the mtng.  One of the delays right now is the
graphic environment (not GEM) they're planting on top of it.  Sounds neat.

>- miscellaneous specifications on both machines (such as amt of RAM,
>  open or closed architecture or both(?), attached/detached keyboard,
>  drive info (if it's changed))
	It really looks like they're going back to the 'black box' notion for
the TT (please, someone from Atari, correct me if I'm wrong.  This is what
I was told).  By black box I mean an external 'add-on' somewhat like the
IBM add-on will be.  I think this could cripple the thing (does this mean
you'd have to buy a new monitor to get new resolutions?).  But I suppose it
creates a tidy solution to the possible problem of internal competition between
ST & TT.  Although, given the different price range / target market, I really
don't see a problem there.  Maybe they'll go both ways, and offer the TT both
as a black box and as a stand-alone unit.  I like the idea I read in Analog
awhile back, with the TT as a stand-alone and up to 12 ST's as terminals.

	There wasn't any clear idea given about release dates for the EST or
the TT.  I don't know, though; with the Mega's (I hate that name) coming out
in spring, soon to be followed by the Atari PC about a month later, and the
ST's IBM add-on some time after that (that's pretty low priority in relation
to everything else, since they're isn't _that_ much of a market foreseen for
it), I wouldn't expect the EST or the TT anytime before summer.
-- 
				- Jonathan Fischer 	(jafischer@watrose)
		or:   	watmath!watrose!jafischer
		or:   	jafischer%watrose@waterloo.csnet
		or:  	jafischer%watrose@waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa