LETTERS

Great first issue! It's nice to see articles on real computing. I've often felt previous magazines spent too much time on articles getting operating systems (Geneva, MiNT, MagiC etc.) to run, and not much of any substance - just one of the reasons I stopped buying every issue. Two problems: I have looked and looked again but cannot see any subscription information. Is this an oversight or a policy decision? Also, in the same vein, it was unclear where I should order a reader disk from - there are plenty of addresses on page four but which one do I use? Keep up the good work.
John Lawrence, via the internet

Erm... we have an article on setting up MiNT and AES replacements in this issue - it is both practical and of substance so I don't understand your point, please explain... The subscription information in this Issue is on page 58.
Evaluation copies of Issue one should have included a separate subscription form - subscribers will automatically be invited to renew their subscription.

Issue 1 came last week and hells bells this is some publication!
Straight to the point, no frills or stupid comments - a real punch on the nose for any Atari doubters. Positive is an understatement with a "go get-em no time wasters" realism nobody could put down. This is a real professional publication targeted at the committed core and to have the support from AC at this stage in the game is staggering. I've changed my earlier selfish attitude since the days when I used to write to Vic Lennard and Andrew Wright condemning games coverage because I thought then - and still do that Ataris can offer a great deal more potential than pinging a sprite around a screen. I believe full coverage of all areas of interest and ongoing support for the Shareware scene are vital to maintain interest in our platform.
For me, the Atari platform is about genuinely committed people, authors, support services and contributors and so on. I feel saying 'thanks' is inadequate to the people who had the sheer guts to get AC up and running but can add my plea that we, as enthusiasts, can get actively involved by making contributions to AC to ensure its continued success.
That's about it for this reel but I would like to float an idea. How about an AC Roadshow with 'Hands on training days'? It could run practical workshops including topics such as 'How to get on-line'
Steve Whitehead, Swindon

--- I was looking forward to AC#1 with a mixture of anticipation and a certain degree of anxiety wondering if Mike and the team would finally get the mag to press.
You did it - great!
I really admire you guys for what you just did. For two reasons:

• First because it was a challenge to start a magazine in an area where the biggest fish up to now had given up.
• Second because you have put together the final link which connects, on a regular basis, the entire community of Atari enthusiasts in the UK and in other countries - even foreign (froglegs-eating) people like me, who have been regular and satisfied subscribers to ST Review, Atari World and ST Format over the years.

Ed: We were also disappointed to see how poorly the TUS advert appeared - so much so we manually replaced the titles when we reprinted AC#1! Happily most of the editorial content turned out fine.

- I find the font you have chosen in the articles a bit tiring to read after several pages - or is it just me?

Ed: In trial layouts we used a sans serif Swiss variant for body text but switched after much discussion. We like it so unless we get a torrent of letters asking us to change it you'll have to read a few pages at a time then have a rest - at least the magazine will provide an even longer read this way!

Some requests: I would like to see more news about events on the Atari scene both in the UK and world-wide. The joystick article was good. How about something on the cartridge port? Do you plan opening a Readers Ads section? Some games solutions or cheats? That's all for now. Bye bye and best wishes. I keep my fingers crossed for you.
Thierry Sutter, Paris, France

Ed: We include anything newsworthy and we'll expand coverage if necessary. Our editorial coverage is dependent on our overworked contributors and although I try to maintain a balanced magazine I am at their mercy. We've considered adding a Reader Ads section but due to the extended period between issues remain unconvinced of its value, persuade us! If anyone sends us game solutions or cheats we'll be happy to print them...

Millennium Bug

Following the recent Money programme feature, I couldn't resist testing my trusty Atari. Taking a deep breath, I went into the control panel, set the time to 11:59 and the date to 31/12/99 and watched the clock tick over to 00. I saved the desktop and checked the file creation date - which was correctly shown as 1/1/00. I tried sorting by date and that also worked perfectly - our platform is good for another 104 years!
Ian Smith, via CIX

I wonder if Atari Computing will still be around?

Atari Computing offers a money back guarantee to subscribers and until
we're certain the future for the magazine is secure we're all working
unpaid. If you'd like to write an article we would be pleased to
consider it for publication. Please note we simply do not have time to
reply to individual letters.