
Esquimalt Digital Logic Inc.
820 Dunsmuir Road
Victoria, B.C., Canada, V9A 5B7
Phone: (604) 384 0499
Fax:   (604) 384 0575
GEnie: CCARMICHAEL

A Good OMEN for Atari Software Developers

Dear Atari Software Developer:

The software industry is about to change, and you can be at the forefront of
this revolution, in partnership with Esquimalt Digital.
     The revolution is OMEN, the Open Multiprocessing ENvironment for all 68000
series machines, under development for three and a half years. The two demos in
the Atari Demo Library introduce you to this fast, compact (100 KB range) and
full featured GUI based operating platform. Servicable even on low end single
floppy machines, OMEN just gets better and better with each additional hardware
feature.
     OMENST_D.PRG is for 68000s (ST, STE, Mega, etc.), and OMENTT_D.PRG is for
68030 (TT, Falcon). Our Falcon is new and we haven't implemented its video
modes yet, so on the Falcon the demo runs only in ST Low and Medium Rez modes.

OMEN is being released first for the Atari ST/TT/Falcon series, then for the
Commodore Amigas. Apple Macintoshes will be next, followed by IBM compatibles
using OMEN (68xxx) cards. The OMEN applications you create will run on all
these platforms without any changes: The same disk will go into any machine and
run properly. OMEN brings the common ground between 68000 series computers that
MS-DOS brought to Intel based machines, but in a powerful modern package with
many innovative features. The 64 bit implementation plan will bring OMEN to the
machines of tomorrow, and your (OMEN 68000) software will still continue to
perform without modification.

We've gone all-out to make OMEN the easiest platform available anywhere to
write software for: a simple, elegant, easy to learn, yet powerful system. It
is also very modular and third parties can add to its capabilities with
independent I/O Manager files and enhanced GUI software. With Esquimalt
Digital's OMEN core and definitions, programmers can give the system any
desired capabilities and configuration for present or future needs. At this
point in time, OMEN can be an also-ran, a success on the Atari, Amiga and
Macintosh, or it can retire Windows NT, etcetera, and lead the software
industry into the 21st century: It's up to us!

The challenge for Atari software developers is to modify existing GEM/TOS
applications and/or create new software to run under OMEN. When the Amiga,
Macintosh, and IBM implementations of OMEN become available, this software will
run AS IS on all these machines. Your Atari market will simply expand with each
new machine until it includes the bulk of today's - and tomorrow's - software
market.
 You will have a head start on the bulk of the software industry, who will not
take OMEN seriously on Atari and Amiga, until it is released for the Mac or
maybe even the IBM. Your choice of Atari and OMEN can thus pay handsome
dividends.

For the customer, OMEN will be a one-time $99 purchase required to run any and
all OMEN software on his machine. An Atari customer's desire to purchase OMEN
and your product will be enhanced by:
     1) OMEN itself, a new GUI based true multi-tasking operating system with
many enhanced and useful features.
     2) By your product and other valuable OMEN applications he may be
interested in.
     3) By the fact that OMEN should be well supported with new products in the
future when Atari, Amiga, Macintosh and other developers will likely be writing
for itl.

Atari software merchants, including developers, can obtain copies of OMEN at
the wholesale price ($69.95 U.S. or $88 Canadian) for the convenience of
selling direct to customers who need OMEN with their first OMEN application.

Expected Availability
Computer  Wholesale ($US) Retail  Alpha(Developers')  Beta    Official Release
ATARI     69.95           99.00    July 10/93       Oct 31/93    Dec 31/93
AMIGA     69.95           99.00    Oct   1/93       Jan 15/94    Apr 15/94
MAC       69.95           99.00    Jan  31/94       Apr 31/94    July 1/94
IBM (68331) 269.95       399.00    April 1/94       July 1/94    Oct  1/94
     The later availability dates may improve  as OMEN picks up steam, but we
don't wish to raise hopes unduly. The IBM (OMEN card) version price is strictly
speculative. OMEN O/S includes "Text Ed" and "Paint Booth" applications and a
user guide.

Your cost to get involved?
     $158 US or $199 CDN for the developers' package plus your work to convert
your GEM/TOS software or write new software. The initial Atari Alpha
Developers' Package allows you to create OMEN software in advance of official
public release. This start-up price will be raised as OMEN gets nearer to
release and the documentation becomes more complete. Buying in now gives you a
head start at a lower cost.
     The Developers' Package includes: OMEN O/S - OMEN User Guide - OMEN
Programming Manual (on-line and printed, with examples and tips)  - Structured
68000 Assembler (SAS) -  SAS Manual - Automatic Updates up to and including
final release of each item - debugging tools - developers' newsletter -
Fax/Phone support.
     Users may also purchase early versions of OMEN O/S from us to run your
software as soon as it is ready, and will also receive auto-updates up to and
including OMEN for Atari official release.

Some types of software we would love to see are outlined below. If you tell us
what you're writing, we will in turn update you with lists of how many
companies are working on each type of product so you can take advantage of gaps
in the product line. In addition, we will attempt to support you with
supplementary information and source code applicable to your product,
especially for system related software.
 Note that if you wish to produce a software compiler, a text editor is not
required: Any existing OMEN word processor (ie Text Ed) will work due to OMEN's
file sharing techniques. Note also that position independent code must be
generated. We'll make extra effort to get information about available languages
to other software developers.

                  Software Categories
Amiga Disk File Manager
Audio Recorder/Player              BASIC type languages
C Language compiler                Color Pickers for True Color
Database                           Desktop Publisher
Disassembler
Display Manager for Atari Falcon (True color, DSP for faster display)
Drawing & Drafting (Object Graphics)
Games, Adventure & Fantasy         Games, Action
Games, Strategy                    Graphic Imaging s/w
Graphical User Interface, Utilities and/or File User Manager (Better than ours)
Macintosh Disk File Manager
Modula II language compilers       Music, Digitized
Music, MIDI                        Network I/O Managers (Appletalk?)
Painting applications (bitmapped)
Printer Managers:
     9 pin B & W
     9 pin color (improved over ours: auto-dithering, etc.)
     24 pin B & W
     24 pin color
     B & W inkjet (H.P., Apple)
     Color Inkjet (H.P., 2 models: C-Y-M, C-Y-M-K)
     H.P. Laser
     IBM Laser
     Postscript
Spelling Dictionary/Checker        Spreadsheet
Video Recorder                     Word Processor


              Craig Carmichael, President

P.S. I'm starting a new OMEN topic in the Atari RT BBS (in Category 3,
programming). I'll be pleased to receive any comments/feedback and answer
questions there.
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