Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

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the computer stand, as detailed in
September's issue.
Well anyway I haven't any room
en top of our bench, just enough
for the computer and gadgets. On
either side I have drawers. The
boxes that the disks come in can be
taped together at an angle to allow
the drawer to be shut.
If you are not too fussy you can
convert an old shoe box. Cut it in
half lengthwise and slide the sides
in together until a disk fits, then
tape or glue together. Get a piece of
corrugated paper to fit inside the
bottom of the box with the grooves
uppermost running across the box.
It's handy for blank disks or large
amounts of disks.
This is my idea for a mouse mat,
as I haven't any room to move a
mouse on our bench — use your top
drawer. Cut stiff cord or hardboard
to be able to just rest on the sides
I AM writing to you for advice
because you have offered me
much assistance in the past and
there is a desperate shortage of
people who are au fait with the
Amiga in Basingstoke to whom I
can turn for help.
I have been following the
excellent feature on word processing
and desktop publishing
in Amiga Computing, and I
would like to purchase a software
package which will meet all
my needs without being too far
beyond my budget.
I should first of all like to
know if I am the only person on
the face of this planet who is not
enchanted with Kindwords. I
find it very claustrophobic to
use, in the sense that it is very
slow and does not always execute
the commands I give it. For
instance, while I type, entire passages
of text disappear, only to
return a few minutes later.
I always have to press Return.
Space, and Delete twice in order
for them to work. On occasions,
strange messages and symbols
appear in the text, and I have to
spend time deleting them, which
causes me much frustration. I
often find using this program so
tedious that I turn to QED
instead of Kindwords.
It is for this reason that I am
considering buying a WP/DTP
package in the near future.
However, with so much to
choose from, I am not sure which
of the drawer and about thre—quarters
of the drawer's length (so you
can lift it up to get at the contents).
Cover it with Fabian green felt
and that's it! You can leave the mat
in the drawer and close it — but
don't forget to take the poor mouse
out first!
I have your free disk with Make
money fruit machine on, We loved
to play it, but one day the screen
flashed and the icon disappeared.
How can I get it back?
Then there's the latest disk
game, 'Grey Slayeave tried three
times to load it from your instructions
with no luck. After the words
"press left button to continue" I get
"unknown mouse command",
Help!
When I bought our computer I
bought all the Amiga computer
mags I could get, especially ones
with disks. They are OK but after
the novelty is wearing off your
The perfect word processor
way to turn. Perhaps, if I give you
my specifications, you may be able
to help me in my decision:
• I am an RSA 3 standard typist
with a maximum speed of 75
words a minute on a typewriter
and 95 wpm on a computer keyboard.
I am therefore going to
want a package which is not going
to have a long delay period
between the time my fingers hit
the keys and the point at which
the characters appear on the
screen.
• I am likely to be using the package
a great deal, so I are going to
want a program which is aesthetically
pleasing, if I am going to be
staring at the screen for long periods
at a time.
• I would like to have to use the
mouse as little as possible, as to
take hands off the keyboard wastes
time and is very annoying.
• I'd prefer the program to have
graphics handling capabilities. as I
often need to import illustrations
into the main body of my text.
though "flow around" is not essential.
• As well as bold, italic, and
underline, justified right margin
and wysiwyg would be essential
features, and a wordcount facility
would certainly make life easier.
• A spell-checker would probably •
remain redundant, becoz my speling
is purfekt, but a thesaurus
would dispense with the need for
a paper one taking up room on the
desk.
magazine seem to have more interesting
articles in a more readable
form.
My special favourite is the letters
page, as it seems to answer a
lot of my questions and I see other
people have the same queries.
Also you seem to treat the writers
with respect. Some other 'nags
seem to use the reply to slang off
the writers,
Patricia Griffin,
Chester-le-Street,
Durham.
Thanks for the tips. 1 used to
use an old lino tile as a mouse
mat — it was great and a lot bigger
than any you can buy
What do you mean the novelty
of the disks is wearing off? Don't
let Jeff hear you say that or he'll
send his beard to visit.
I think your missing Make
Money is just a case of a wander.
I took my RSA 2 word processing
exam on an Amstrad using
Wordstar, which is a practical, if
not cosmetically pleasing, program.
Well, faced with this information,
could you advise me which
package would be most suitable? I
quite like the sound of Pen Pal, but
would its speed deficiency hamper
me too much? I hope you will be
able to come to my rescue once
again,
Katharine Spencer,
Basingstoke,
Hampshire,
Hi, Katharine. It's always nice to
hear from you. Unfortunately the
kind of package you describe does
not exist yet. although several get
close. Looking through the word
processing feature in the
August/September issues will be a
close as you get to a thorough
description of each package.
For speed, you would be hod
pressed to heat Protext.
Unfortunately it has no graphics.
For laying out pages. you really
need a DTP package.
Unfortunately, they ore slow.
I hate to admit it, but I'm
stumped. What you really need to
do is find a dealer who will let you
ploy around with as many packages
as possible.
But you'll have to admit it:
You're asking for a perfect piece of
software, something which even
Ezra, have never seen. (OK, then.
apart from 3D Monster Maze.)
111 LETTERS
ing icon. took in all the drawers
It's probably hiding.
Waffle waffle
complain gripe!
I'VE just wandered back from the
Norwich with a copy of Beast 2.
hoping it is a good game (haven't
played it vet: Games, as always. are
low on my priority list). While
wandering home (if you can wander
anywhere on an FZ1000) I was
thinking about reviews and when
they come out.
Why can a game like Beast 2 not
be reviewed, or even extensively
previewed.and yet suddenly
appear in the shops. I would have
expected large previews in the
Amiga magazines if it was so
nearly completed. or even the now
famous Exclusive Review!
The above point is made more
curious by a game called
Supremacy from Virgin. A computer
mag reviewed this game and
I must say I was very interested. Is
this bit of software for sale? Not on
your nellies, Mr Wulf,
Why do magazines insist on taking
the software company's word
for it? I would have thought that
because of past experience of the
computer industry, magazines
would he a little more sceptical of
release dates and "final copies" of
software,
I am not blaming all magazines,
Amiga Computing is certainly
blameless on this count, EFT-
POTRM. RES 101 and Damocles
were all reviewed approximately a
month after everyone else, but at
about the same time as they
appeared in the shops. Ah bliss,
That's the way it should be.
The search for the exclusive
'should not be priority number one,
especially if it doesn't arrive for
months. And yes, as you've probably
guessed, I do remember Street
Hawk!
Kevin Hall,
CDC
Games reviews are an interesting
subject. It depends a great deal on
the software houses. Sometimes
they send someone (usually a
pretty young woman) to show us a
preview Sometimes they ask us to
review this preview. We refrain
from doing so. and instead we
write a story for the Amiga Arcade
section and mention the release
dates. As to the time after a game