🚀 go-pugleaf

I've just gone through some efforts to become familiar with Atari-oriented
computer magazines, and the following comments summarize my impressions.
Bear in mind that I have only seen a few issues of most of these magazines,
so my comments could well be unfair to some of them.

BYTE, Antic, Analog, and COMPUTE! all have run articles on the ST.  BYTE for
January '86 and COMPUTE! for October '85 have "product descriptions" on the
ST.  Antic and Analog are entirely devoted to Atari products and have
significant sections devoted to the ST.  COMPUTE! is fairly evenhanded amongst
the small personal computers including IBM, Apple, Commodore and Atari, but
still has devoted significant efforts to the ST (as well as the Amiga).
COMPUTE! has in the past provided much excellent information in book form, and
I suspect that they will soon carry the tradition forward to the ST products.
I have been much impressed with their virtuosity on the 8-bit Ataris, so I
suspect that they will continue to be one of the better sources.

Antic seems to be more game-oriented than the others.  Depending on your
interests and applications, this may be good or bad.

Analog seems to have the most complete selection of software and accessories
specifically for Atari products in its advertising.  It seems to be more
"technical" than Antic.

I suggest you browse at your friendly local newsstand (surely in Berkeley, CA
there are newsstands that cater to computer freaks!!!) and see which one(s)
you like best.  I hope you will get other comments which add perspective
and balance, as I am acutely aware that my impressions are based on a very
brief look at these magazines.

						-John Sangster
						jhs at mitre-bedford.arpa

> I would appreciate it if someone could give me the name and addresses
> of any Atari magazines that provide useful info into the ST.
> Thanks in advance!
> -- 

There is fairly nice ST ONLY magazine called ST Applications. It has
been around since September or so last year. In addition to features
the regular departments are:
	- You Can do it - all about the 68K chip and machine lang.
	- MIDI Beat
	- Let's C
	- A Step FORTH
	- Purposeful PASCAL
	- Ask ED
	- BASIC know-how
Each month they have Reviews of Software, and a ST BBS review. Each
month also has a pretty entertaining rumors section. The current
issue is 70 Pages.

	Subscription: $25/6 or $40/12 issues printed
		     $60/6  or $100/12 issues+disk
		ST Applications
		10760 Hwy 116
		P.O. Box 968
		Forestville, CA  95436 (Check or MO only)

-- 
					Jwahar R. Bammi
			       Usenet:  .....!decvax!cwruecmp!bammi
			        CSnet:  bammi@case
				 Arpa:  bammi%case@csnet-relay
			   CompuServe:  71515,155

<>
In an article, jhs@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA writes:
>I've just gone through some efforts to become familiar with Atari-oriented
>computer magazines, and the following comments summarize my impressions.
>Bear in mind that I have only seen a few issues of most of these magazines,
>so my comments could well be unfair to some of them.

   I'll add my experiences to jhs'.  I've just let my year-long subscription
to Compute! run out, my Antic subscription is into its 7th month, and my
Analog subscription just started (though I have the last 4 issues).  I agree
with most of the comments, but will add my own.

>Antic and Analog are entirely devoted to Atari products and have
>significant sections devoted to the ST.  COMPUTE! is fairly evenhanded amongst
>the small personal computers including IBM, Apple, Commodore and Atari, but
>still has devoted significant efforts to the ST (as well as the Amiga).
>COMPUTE! has in the past provided much excellent information in book form, and
>I suspect that they will soon carry the tradition forward to the ST products.
>I have been much impressed with their virtuosity on the 8-bit Ataris, so I
>suspect that they will continue to be one of the better sources.

   Compute! does seem to have their act together.  However, due to the fact
that they cover several flavors of machines, the Atari-specific material is
necessarily low.  They come out periodically with collections of articles
and programs for each machine- there are currently three for the Atari.
Support the magazine if you like; I'll scan each issue on the newsstands,
and wait for the compendiums.  After all, I only have so much money to
spend on magazine subscriptions.

>Antic seems to be more game-oriented than the others.  Depending on your
>interests and applications, this may be good or bad.
>
>Analog seems to have the most complete selection of software and accessories
>specifically for Atari products in its advertising.  It seems to be more
>"technical" than Antic.
>
   The above two paragraphs are almost word-for-word what I told the Micro
Center people here when my opinion was solicited.  However, don't let that
steer you away from Antic.  They still have many non-game applications,
and best of all, handle the old APX software.  Lots of useful software
that you see mentioned on USENET is available through them.  Some of the
titles that have been popping up recently are Deep Blue C, Chameleon
terminal emulator, and Dandy (see the "Gauntlet" postings in
net.games.video).  Also, Antic has a UK edition (at least that's the im-
pression I got); I'm not sure about the others.

 - Joel ({allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster)

Support Atari magazines!

RE:
I would appreciate it if someone could give me the name and addresses
of any Atari magazines that provide useful info into the ST.

Here is a note I put on the net back in October. I have no idea
as to the current state of the magazine.


A friend just loaned me a copy of a magazine he found out in
California:
	S/T Sixteen/Thirty-Two Applications
	The ATARI 520ST Journal

Partial table of contents:

1 MEG Upgrade for your 520ST		(same article posted earlier)

			Departments:

MIDI Beat				Discusses the MIDI interface.
A Step FORTH				Not a column about C.
FORTH Tone Dialer			A phone dialer program.
Purposeful Pascal			The Pascal column.

			Reviews Etc.:

Unacceptable Software			The didn't review a dirty joke program
Available Software			Currently available software titles
Desktop					Helping users deal with the interface
Software Reviews
	Chat; Flip Side; Hippo Computer Almanac; M-Disk, ram-disk
	emulator; A Mind Forever Voyaging; Mudpies


This is not what you would call a large budget magazine. I found the
print quality a bit less than the "Dtack Grounded" (R.I.P.) newsletters.
It is printed using dot matrix printers. One hundred copies of the first
issue and 300 hundred of the second have been printed.

If I were going to get an ST, I'd probably try it for a year. No flashy
color graphics. No overdone hype either.

If you want to check it out the details are:

	S/T
	Sixteen/Thirty-Two Applications
	10760 Hwy 116
	Forestville, California 95436

	$5.00 for the current issue
	$25.00 for 6 issues

	$10.00 for the current disk issue
	$50.00 for 6 disk issues
----

	harold ravlin		{ihnp4,pur-ee}!uiucdcs!uicsl!hr