Atari8 Software at atari8.co.uk
27 January 2010
LW "Pro" In Development
In parallel with development of the VBXE version of The Last Word, work is underway on a "Pro" version of LW, designed exclusively for extended memory machines. The new version (in both VBXE and "standard" flavours) will require a minimum of 128K but will not use the "Shadow RAM" under the XL/XE operating systems. As well as offering compatibility with SpartaDOS 3.x and DOS XE for the first time since LW 2.1, these versions will also boast an enhanced user interface with drop-down menus, revised keyboard shortcuts, and a 24-25 line text editing window.
I hope to have the "Pro" versions out in public beta during the first half of 2010.
20 January 2010
LW 4.0 Beta 1 for VBXE
The first Beta of LW 4.0 for VBXE is available to download here.
19 January 2010
Coming Soon: LW 3.11 and LW 4.0 for VBXE
A week after starting work on the VBXE version (4.0) of The Last Word, the first beta is nearing completion. In addition to all the features of the "standard" versions of LW, the program will offer:
- Crystal clear 80 column text display using standard Atari fonts
- Lightning fast editing and screen updates using VBXE's blitter hardware
- Extra screen lines to display even more text on the screen
LW 4.0 is the first major productivity application for VBXE, and will be constantly improved to make maximum use of this great hardware.
LW 3.1 users can also look forward to version 3.11 for "stock"
Ataris, which brings more small improvements and bug fixes.
January 2010
XM301/SIO2SD Case Conversion
The unit is now complete and fully functional:
Make your own by following my step-by-step instructions here.
3 January 2010
UltraVideo 1.0 XL
Experiments with the s-video display of my 800XL have yielded spectacular results:
Read how here.
8 November 2009
The Last Word 3.1 Released
A month after the release of LW 3.0, version 3.1 is now available for download here.
The changes and improvements have been so extensive that I decided to increase the minor version number rather than the revision number: hence 3.1. Because of critical bug fixes, LW 3.0 should be abandoned in favour of the new version. As well as bug fixes, features in LW 3.1 include:
- 80 column text editing at up to twice the speed of LW 3.0
- Batch renaming of tagged files on the disk menu
- Twenty example macro files
- Extensions including a line sorter, calculator and icon menu
- A selection of printer drivers
LW 3.1 also comes with a lots of other minor tweaks and improvements which make the program work better. Get your free copy now!
24 October 2009
LW Update 3.01 in Preparation
Two weeks after LW's official release, the updated version 3.01
is almost ready to be published, bringing with it dramatically
increased editing and scrolling speed, together with the ability to
perform batch renaming of files, plus several important bug fixes to the
macro processor for advanced users.
The Last Word has proved hugely popular, particularly in Poland and
Germany.
If you haven't already tried LW, here are just a few of
the things its fans have had to say about it since its release:
- "Your word processor is the finest one ever seen on A8 machines."
- "Awesome work!"
- "A monumental accomplishment."
- "An amazing piece of software."
- "This is fantastic. Voted 'Best software of the Year!' by me."
LW 3.01 will ship with a large collection of macros and printer
drivers. Work is also underway on a German translation of the LW
manual and a selection of Polish fonts. It is hoped that translated
versions of the program itself will be made available in the future.
11 October 2009
The Last Word 3.0 Official Release
Yes - it's finally ready. After nearly a year of development, the new 80 column word processor for the Atari XL/XE is available to download here.
1 October 2009
LW Release Delayed by Illness!
Yet more delays: I've been hit by a dose of flu this week (not sure if it's of the porcine variety), so release of The Last Word is delayed yet again...
27 September 2009
LW 3.0 Release at the end of September
Just to give myself a deadline, LW 3.0 will be formally released on or before 1 October 2009. Considerable improvements have been made to the RAMdisk detection code under DOS 2.5 and MyDOS 4.5, and I believe these enhancements are well worth the delays they caused. Nine months after version 2.1 saw the light of day (a decade after it was written), its successor is almost here!
10 September 2009
LW 3.0 Release Date Nears
I'm glad to announce that the final RC test of The Last Word has gone well and the program is currently in the final stages of preparation for general release. At the moment, we're concentrating most of our efforts on documentation and support files. There's also been some interest in a possible boxed retail version of LW at some point in the future (although the program will still be available to download for free).
10 August 2009
The Last Word in Micro Mart
I was pleased to see The Last Word mentioned in the Retro Mart column of issue 1066 of Micro Mart earlier this month. I've been a Micro Mart reader for many years, and having always enjoyed Shaun's column, I was quite delighted to get a mention.
Hardly surprising that the final release date has slipped but LW 3 is a more complex beast than I could have imagined. The documentation project is proving to be hard work, too. I see no reason why the program shouldn't be complete by late August, though, and I hope to release an add-on spell-checker module soon afterwards. Also on the horizon is the VBXE edition of LW, which I'll start working on later in the year.
13 June 2009
LW 3.0 Summer 2009 Release
Having used XEDIT and MA65 exclusively until now to develop LW, I've now switched to the excellent WUDSN plug-in IDE for Eclipse, and this will hopefully result in an accelerated development cycle for the project. At over 13,000 lines, LW's assembly source code was getting difficult to handle in situ, and moving to a cross-compiler environment was probably long overdue. I'm now hoping for a mid to late July final release for version 3 (T-800) so that I can concentrate on some other Atari projects. By then it'll be time to think about version 4!
LW now supports plain-text configuration files, doing away with the need for separate configuration and printer driver editors. This has also solved the issue of how to cope with extended memory set-ups and different RAM disks. Most of the final code is in place (there's not much space left!), so the next month or so will be taken up with debugging. Another limited beta will probably be issued in late June. The final release will be bundled with extensive support files, and a large collection of 40/80 column fonts specially designed for LW.
27 April 2009
LW 3.0 Preview Video and Progress
It's been a long time since I've released any taster videos, but just to whet the appetite, here's a look at LW's revamped disk menu. The redesign has taken over two weeks, but I think the result is worthwhile. LW now supports SpartaDOS X style directory listings (under SpartaDOS X only) in one or two column formats, and files can be sorted by name, type, size, or date. Files can (as before) be tagged, facilitating multiple deletions and copies, the latter with full wildcard support. Files can be previewed from disk in 80 columns with word-wrap, and the disk menu now serves as a universal file selector, even during file save operations.
Download the video here (right click and "Save Target As").
I never imagined back in December last year that six months later I would have put another few hundred hours in on this ten year old project. Work commitments mean that I have much less time available now to work on LW, but the version 3 release is still in sight. I just have extensions and international language support to implement - once I've found another 1K of program space from somewhere! There's also the possibility of support for the VBXE video board and other hardware enhancements. There should be something reasonably complete to download by the end of May or early June, so watch this space.
03 March 2009
The Last Word 3.0 Beta 2
After a month's work following the Beta 1 release of LW 3.0, I've decided to release one final beta version. This release addresses all the bugs reported since Beta 1 came out, as well as many other issues. There are several new features, too, and no doubt these have brought with them more bugs, so this is a chance to get them ironed out while I work on amendments to the configuration program (which isn't included with this release). An important decision has been made to drop automatic extended memory detection with all DOSes apart from SpartaDOS X. This means users of MyDOS, DOS 2.5, and other disk operating systems will have to give LW explicit instructions on which RAM banks to use by means of the configuration program, once it's ready.
Download the beta 2 version here. Also on the disk is a selection of superb 40 and 80 column fonts specially created for LW by another Atari enthusiast, who also did the artwork for the new loading screen. For additional information regarding the use of LW, see README.TXT on the disk, as well as the Version 2 documentation available here.
8 Feb 2009
The Last Word 3.0 Beta 1
The biggest re-write of LW in ten years is almost complete! Download Beta 1 here. Since LW now operates in both 40 and 80 column modes, I've dropped the ".8" version number (which denoted the 80 column version), so this is version 3.0. This version will still have a few bugs in it (RAMdisks beware!), but it does allow 40 and 80 column editing on the same document (press the START key to switch between displays). Depending on how many bugs are in this version, I'll either release a second beta with a week or make the next version a final release. Don't expect add-ins, config files or fonts from previous versions to work with this copy.
Note that this version uses RAM under the OS ROM, so isn't compatible with SpartaDOS 3.x, DOS-XE, SDX using OSRAM (or NONE), or any other DOS that resides between $C000-$FFFF.
17 Jan 2009
The Last Word 80 Pre-Alpha Release 3.8
Numerous word processors have been written for the Atari8, but few can display 80 columns on the screen. While AtariWriter 80 displayed 80 columns using Atari's XEP-80 and a compatible monitor, word processors which have attempted to use software based 80 column displays have often been limited in their capabilities. The Last Word 80 at last offers a fast and full-featured 80 column word processor for the Atari8 which requires no hardware add-ons and operates at a speed comparable with its 40 column counterparts, and could prove to be "the most sophisticated word processor ever written for the Atari8".
Download the pre-alpha release here. Note that this version uses RAM under the OS ROM, so isn't compatible with SpartaDOS 3.x, DOS-XE, SDX using OSRAM, or any other DOS that resides between $C000-$FFFF. Also note this version is buggy and feature-incomplete!
13 Jan 2009
Atari8 has moved!
I'm pleased to announce that from today, Atari8's new address is www.atari8.co.uk. I'll continue to keep a forwarding link at www.getsly.com/atari/ until that domain alias expires.
28 Dec 2008
LW Beta Testing Macro
Having tested The Last Word in emulation (using Atari800Win Plus, Atari800MacX, Atari800, and Atari++), it has become apparent that the keys necessary to select extended banks in the word processor are incorrectly or incompletely implemented by some emulators. The BANKUTIL.MAC add-in allows bank selection using <CTRL+T>, and a complete listing of bank selection bitmasks values <SHIFT>+<CTRL>+<T>. The add-in is loaded just like a normal LW macro (with <SHIFT>+<CTRL>+<M>), and should be considered an essential tool when testing the latest beta releases of LW under emulation.
Download here.
24 Dec 2008
The Last Word 2.2 Beta 2 Release
An interim release primarily aimed at testing with the 65C816 OS. This version addresses problems with the keyboard table.
Download here.
24 Dec 2008
The Last Word 2.2 Beta 1 Release
Version 2.2 of The Last Word is currently in beta testing, and is the first to offer automatic detection of and configuration for most memory upgrades for the Atari8. Several users of version 2.1 of LW thought the extended RAM configuration awkward, so hopefully version 2.2 addresses all of those problems. LW now automatically detects Axlon, Rambo XL, Newell and Compy-Shop extended memory upgrades when it loads and avoids those banks in use by RAM disks and SpartaDOS X.
You can download the Beta 1 copy of version 2.2 here. Memory banks (up to ten will be available, including the main bank) are accessed by pressing Shift, Control and a number key, where 1 is the main bank, 2 the first extended bank, 3 the second and so on, and 0 the uppermost bank. Be aware this version will wipe out any RAM disks under DOS 2.5, MyDOS, DOS-XE and SpartaDOS. Only under SpartaDOS X extended memory banks used by the operating system be handled correctly by this beta version. Hopefully full support for other DOS packages will be present in the next release.
Please test the beta version on as many real and emulated platforms as possible. Once I'm sure the basic memory detection routines work with a reasonably wide range of upgrades, I'll add the remaining code to avoid RAM disks, etc. In the meantime, if you have any bug reports or suggestions, please contact me here.