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		Release Notes for OMEn Version 2.46, June 3rd, 1994
			 (C) 1994 Esquimalt Digital Logic Inc.

Message from the president

	Welcome to the first release of the Open Multitasking Environ-
ment, OMEn. It runs on Atari series computers. We plan on OMEn
becoming a major operating platform, and you are among the first to
view it.
	Future releases for Mac, Amiga, and PC (with 680x0 OMEn
processor card) will run the same OMEn software as the Atari does.
	The accompanying feature sheets ("OMEn Key Features" file)
outline the major unique features that make OMEn a really special
system, and there are plenty of lesser innovations you will discover
as you explore the system and its software.
	OMEn is the first operating system to really integrate software
at the system level. It is a "Componentware" environment where
smaller software applications can specialize in doing one thing well
instead of having to do a number of things in one package.

	Although OMEn is not yet perfected in this version, it will
improve over time. OMEn is the only system that makes bugs less
damaging: control of the computer and work in progress is seldom lost
if a program bombs.

	The OMEn system uses less memory than any other. It was written
in compact, fast, assembly language. It loads faster, will run off a
floppy, and leaves more space for programs and data. It will
eventually run on many types of computers, and even on certain game
machines and embedded controllers where a bulky system wouldn't fit.

	We hope you will find OMEn to your liking and confidently expect
there will be many third party software houses writing or porting
interesting and useful OMEn software for entertainment, business,
music, industrial/home control & security, data acquisition,
multi-media, graphics and more.




							Sincerely yours,
							Craig Carmichael, Pres.
							Esquimalt Digital.
BBS (Archived) Version

	The notes below refer to file names which are longer than 8
characters (up to 14) and may be in upper and lower case, using
OMEn's DOS/GEM upward compatible filing system. However, when disk
files are archived (or copied) using GEM/TOS/DOS software, the
filenames shown are chopped off to 8 characters and made into upper
case, so the names don't quite match these notes. The fourth
character of the file extension and the version number are likewise
lost.
	When many of the files are opened, there will immediately be a
'u' next to them, indicating they should be 'updated', and the
complete (up to 47 character) OMEn file name will appear. The 'u' may
be ignored. When files are updated, the 14 character file name is
restored in the directory. For files where the file's header wasn't
saved with the file, the 8 character name remains and there is no
'u'.
	There was also an unknown problem in archiveing the "Text Ed"
binder containing the Text Ed program and its directory icons:
Text Ed wouldn't run after expansion and the file sizes were wrong.
The binder had to be dropped, and Text Ed placed as a program file in
the "Software" folder.

Getting Started

						  Startup

	Like any Atari program, OMEn is started by double clicking on
the OMEN246D.PRG icon or name in a GEM directory window.
	If you boot off a hard drive, then either "Fonts" and "Settings"
folders must be on Drive C, or a floppy disk must be in Drive A.
Otherwise the system crashes while booting up. OMEn checks drive C
first for these folders, then if it doesn't find them (or doesn't
find a Drive C), it searches on drive A.
	On a Falcon, you must boot from an ST compatible video mode. The
mode can then be changed as desired from the Atari Big Screen video
manager in the System folder. (This was just discovered as we
normally boot our Falcon in ST-Medium for other reasons.)
	Note: GEM/TOS on the Falcon seems to have trouble opening
folders/files with lower case in their names. ST and TT have no such
problem, and there is no problem on any machine while running OMEn.

					Finding Disk Software

	The file management system is not complicated, but it does need
a bit of introduction.
	First, click means just one click: there is no double clicking
with OMEn.
	Second, you have to be very careful not to move the mouse while
clicking. If the mouse moves, the system generates "dragging"
messages instead of "clicking" messages, and what you expected won't
happen. (We hope to improve this in the future.)

			Finding the disks and programs on the disks:

	* Click on DIRs at the top of the main window. This opens
	  a directory window. The window starts up looking at the
	  Memory folder, which is the root directory for the
	  whole system.
	* Click on Disk Drives. This is the root folder for all
	  the GEM/DOS drives and disks in the system. A list of
	  available drives is shown as folders. Drives don't have
	  icons on the desktop.
	* Click on the drive with the OMEn software. It opens to
	  show the files and folders on the drive. Programs that
	  you can run are shown with a "running animal" icon.
	* Click on a program to start it up.

					Getting out of a folder.

	To exit a folder to its parent folder, simply click on the name
of the current folder, which is just above the list of files (on the
second line of the directory window). On a colour screen, this name
is on a blue background.
	To exit out from several levels of folders at once, click on the
name at the very top of the directory window. If you are anywhere on
a drive, it will exit to the Disk Drives folder showing the list of
drives. If you are already in that folder, it will exit to the Memory
folder.
	Since the Memory folder is the root folder, there is no way to
exit outwards from it and clicking on this name will have no effect.

	The other folder shown in the Memory directory when you boot-up
OMEn (besides Disk Drives) is System. It contains software which is
always placed there when OMEn starts up.


						Copying Files

	Files in the Memory folder are not saved on a disk; they will
disappear when you exit from OMEn or turn off the computer. This
applies as well to any new files copied into the System folder, which
is also in memory.
	To copy a file:
	* Two directory windows are required. If only one is open,
	  click again on DIRs to open a second one.
	* Get to the folder where you want to copy the file to in
	  the second directory window. (You have to be viewing
	  inside that folder, seeing its files.)
	* Drag the file from the first directory window to the
	  second one. It will be copied.

		Copying Between Floppies; Changing Floppy disks

	To copy files between disks with just one floppy drive:
	* Copy the files into the Memory folder from the first
	  disk.
	* Swap disks. When you swap floppies, exit from Drive A
	  in the directory window (back to Disk Drives, see above)
	  and then re-enter Drive A to open (read-in) the new disk.
	* Copy the files from Memory back to the new disk.
	* Delete the files from memory if they aren't to be used.

	To select several files, click on each one with the RIGHT mouse
button.
	If a disk has a "volume label" (a name), this name will be shown
instead of "Drive A" after the disk is opened.

	OMEn handles any Atari or MS-DOS disk format properly, including
5-1/4" disks. If you are using a 5-1/4" external drive, you should
run Atari Disk Drives I/O port in the System folder (click on it like
a program) and set the "Floppy Seek Speed" to 6 or 12 milli- seconds
instead of 3 milliseconds, which is too fast for most 5-1/4" drives.


Starting Text Ed Program to Read/Edit the TEXT Files

	* Locate Text Ed in the Software folder on the disk.
	* Click on it to start it running.
	* Locate the document to be opened.
	* Drag the document from the directory window to the
	  File button in the Text Ed window. Text Ed will read
	  it off the disk and open it.

	Note: The Text Ed you see in the Software folder is a binder
directory called "Text Ed". It contains the Text Ed program and three
different sizes of icons also called Text Ed for different screen
resolutions.
	A binder is similar to a folder except that it doesn't open to
show the files. Instead, it works as if the entire binder with all
its files was one file. (To open it like a folder, rename it so that
the name of the binder is different than the name of the program or
change its extension from ".BIND" to ".FOLD" with the "FileInfo"
program.)


Ordering

	The demo contains all the features that the licenced version
currently contains. The licenced version will be upgraded for free in
the coming months with many more features, and the upgrades will be
automatically shipped for free to licenced users.

	We are pleased to have users run the demo, experiment with it,
create and print text and colour pictures, and play sounds.
	However, if you find you are using OMEn productively you are
expected to support the product by ordering the licenced version.
OMEn can only become a major system with user supported funding to
speed up further development and improve system quality.

	We hope to sign up distributors and dealers in various regions
in the coming weeks, and, of course, OMEn can be ordered directly
from Esquimalt Digital (604-384-0499, fax 604-384-0575). Details are
under "Licencing OMEn" under the "Help" menu while OMEn is running.


Macintosh, Amiga, PC

	All the features put into OMEN-Atari which are not specific to
the Atari are automatically included in the versions for other
computers without extra work. Thus, the porting of OMEn to other
types of 680x0 based computers is relatively simple, at least in
principle.

	The Macintosh version isn't ready to release, and it doesn't run
on all versions of the Macintosh, especially among the newest models.
	It does, however, run the same OMEn software as the Atari off a
720K format DOS or GEM disk (except for original Macs, Mac+, and some
SE's that won't read DOS/GEM type disks at all).
	For software developers who want to see this with their own
eyes, we'll slip you a pre-release Mac copy.
	With OMEn-Atari release priorities aside, work will soon resume
on the Macintosh version.

	An independent contractor is porting OMEn to the Commodore
Amiga. (alas, a bit too late for Commodore, it seems!) Unfortunately,
this isn't running just yet, although some of the routines are
reported to be functional. Best guess of a time line is another two
to four months for the Amiga version, especially depending on the
contractor and on porting of the display manager. Amiga display
techniques will be very close to the Atari's, which will simplify
matters.

	The 68331 circuit card for OMEn-PC has been fabricated and
populated but is not yet tested. With all the other work to do, it
won't be running OMEn for a while unless a potential agreement is
concluded with a local PC software development company to speed up
development.


The version number: 2.46

This is the 246th version of the original OMEn source code, which was
begun on March 7th, 1990. It was decided to retain the original
version numbers in the releases to avoid any chance of future
confusion.


The Late OMEn System

	Once expected to debut in 1993, OMEn would have been a very
premature product at that time.
	Originally scheduled to ship in March 1994, OMEn was delayed
until April and then until May. Now it is early June. Sigh!

	But if the improvements and added features made in April were
seen, everyone would know that the extra month was well worth the
wait. And May's documentation and extra attention to system details
were also necessary. (Where would you be without release notes?) The
"upward compatible colour palettes" were a late May innovation.

	The delay of the system has also caused the delay of the OMEn
Herald newsletter.
	It was intended to ship the demo and the newsletter in the same
package to reduce labour and shipping costs. The newsletter has thus
been put off for two extra months along with the system. It should be
out sometime in June.


Bugs

Regrettably, neither the operating system itself nor the software
supplied is totally bug free. The OMEn system does take much of the
frustration out of bugs that stop software by seldom crashing or
losing your work when an application does bomb. Even the user
interface can usually crash without causing problems! A monitor
re-starts the user interface if it quits, without affecting other
software which may be running.

	This is, however, not foolproof. If an application passes bad
values to the system or to an I/O manager, the system or manager can
crash during the call with, say, the screen locked or the Atari's
BIOS/XBIOS locked, hanging the system.
	And being a multitasking system where applications share files
with each other and with the system, OMEn is also very sensitive to
applications accidentally writing to memory they haven't allocated to
themselves.


Program Bombs and Disk Integrity

	A detail affected by the above memory sensitivity is that the
directories and file allocation tables for disk drives are cached in
memory. It is planned later to use CRC checks to verify that vital
disk information is intact, but currently this is not done.
	It is therefore recommended that if there is any reasonable
chance that a crashed program may have trashed memory (which might be
indicated by file names being messed up, the display trashed or other
suspicious signs) then don't save to your hard drive. Remove the
current floppy disk, put in another and save your unsaved work to
that. Then quit and re-start OMEn. Opening a new floppy disk ensures
that new disk information is read off of the disk, replacing the
potentially bad data in memory.
	This is an unlikely situation. We have very rarely re-booted the
system after a program crash and the hard drives are all still fine
-- and while developing software, there are lots of program crashes.
But it's a possibility that needs to be mentioned.


Display Bugs

	The most obvious annoyance is the mouse wrapping around from the
right side of the screen to the left. This will be eliminated in an
upcoming free release.
	Real bugs include little bits of window or mouse left over after
a graphical operation, spare cursors in Text Ed and other such
problems. These are known and are being tracked down, on occasion,
one at a time (one you won't see was cured yesterday). As a multi-
tasking graphical system, OMEn displays need careful programming
attention. Moving the mouse, opening, closing and moving windows or
bringing them to the front or back all cause complex display
interactions between concurrently running programs. The translation
of logical to pixel co-ordinates that helps make OMEn device
independent is also causing trouble on occasion.
	Enough excuses... we take heart that some Macintosh software
also occasionally leaves bits of mouse behind, or blank areas that
aren't redrawn.


Software Development Package

	The OMEn software development package will be out in two or
three weeks unless there are unexpected delays. The software is
ready, but the documentation needs further revision if it is to be
helpful instead of misleading.
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