This Article was published in the
Summer 88 issues of the Staten Island Atari Users Group newsletter.
The article was also posted onto the Fordham Prep BBS in the Bronx, NY.
At the time, the bulletin board system that Curt Vendel ran had changed
from being run in 83-86 as the Star Trek BBS to The Earth Access Center
in 86-89 to present Atari articles and data.
During the initial development of Diamond, Alan Reeve sent
Curt Vendel Version 1.0 onto diskette and Curt Vendel proceeded to work
using an Apple Lisa XL with MacPaint and created all new icons for the
Diamond desktop which were null modem'd into an Atari 130XE and using MicroPainter
were converted into Atari format and mailed out to Alan. In
release 2.0 and 2.1 the new icons became the final icons used in the Diamond
GOS operating system.
June 6, 1988 Diamond(tm) Press Release Infoccc Attention
Atari XL and XE
owners. REEVE Software, developers of the powerful News Station page
layout
software, will soon be releasing our powerful new graphics based operating
system. It is called Diamond(tm) and when loaded into an XL/XE computer
with
64K or more, gives your computer a complete graphics operating system
similar
to what GEOS(tm) has done for the Commodore 64. This document gives
complete
information on what Diamond(tm) can do from a programmers point of
view, and I
think you'll agree that Atari XL/XE owners are in for a real treat
this year.
Diamond(tm) is our powerful new graphics based operating system. It
allows your
Atari computer to use the icon based point-and-click menu systems that
are
present on many of the more powerful systems today such as the Macintosh(tm),
Amiga(tm), and Atari ST(tm), and better yet, is the fact that Diamond(tm)
is
not a single program that uses drop-down menus and icons, but rather
an
environment which means there will be many more programs to come that
are
Diamond(tm) based.cc Diamond's(tm) features include:cA
mouse cursor which can
be operated by the keyboard, a joystick, a touch tablet, or a mouse.
It is
definable in shape and its point of action can be changed (e.g. an
arrows point
of action would be its tip, and a crosshairs point of action would
be its
center.)cc Drop-Down Menus that can have menu options activated
and
deactivated which is indicated by highlighting active items. Menu items
can
also have check marks placed and removed from them. These function
are all
handled by Diamond(tm).cc Desk Accessories which can be
called up from any
Diamond(tm) based program at any time.cc Icons that can
be activated through
a point-and-click system with a mouse. Icons can be shaped and moved
all around
as part of our environment.cc Dialog Boxes that are virtually
unlimited in
design to allow the user to make easy selections that require anything
from a
simple yes/no response to anything one can think of.cc
Windows that can be
opened, closed, moved, and sized via simple software calls.cc
...and many
more powerful routines that make up the Diamond(tm) environment.cc
Most of
what has been said up until now deals with Diamond(tm) as an environment,
and
is meant to let you know that Diamond(tm) is an environment that can
easily be
accessed by anyone that knows how to program, however, Diamond(tm)
is intended
to make computing more fun for those that do not know how to program,
or even
know how to use a computer. The primary purpose of an environment such
as this
is to make computing easy and enjoyable, and this is a user interface
allowing
people to communicate more easily with their computer.cc
Diamond(tm) is
scheduled for July release and includes our Diamond DeskTop software,
which
acts as a substitute for those select a letter and command oriented
systems. It
allows users to perform every standard DOS function via a simple user
friendly
command such as deleting a file or dragging the file over to the trash
can, and
the user doesn't have to use the keyboard unless absolutely necessary
as in
renaming a file.cc Diamond(tm) DeskTop will also be compatible
with Floppy
Drives, Hard Drives, and Ram Disks as well as most Disk Operating Systems
such
as Atari DOS 2.5 and SpartaDOS(tm).cc We hope that Diamond(tm)
becomes the
new standard of operating environments for Atari 8-bit owners as we
have
designed it with excellent flexibility and power. Diamond which includes
Diamond DeskTop and some additional programs and Desk Accessories will
retail
for $29.95 as will our other Diamond based products.cc
Diamond should pump
new life into your Atari 8-bit computer, and in order to put even more
power
into your XL/XE computer we have a complete line of Diamond(tm) based
software
such as:ccc The Diamond Programmers Kit Explains
how to program with
Diamond(tm), and includes macros for Mac/65 and Basic source code to
demonstrate how to use Diamond(tm). Also contains a resource builder
to aid in
the construction of drop-down menus, dialog boxes, and icons. It's
what REEVE
Software uses to develop our Diamond based programs. (August '88) $29.95cc
Diamond Writec A full featured word processor that includes
everything you've
come to expect from word processing on your Atari XL/XE and the ability
to use
multiple fonts and multiple text sizes in your documents. (August '88)
$29.95 cc Diamond Paintc A powerful
paint program designed to allow you
to paint fantastic art in an environment of drop-down menus and icons.
(August
'88) $29.95cc
Diamond Publishc Finally, true desktop publishing
for your XL/XE computer. Once you've experienced Diamond Publish you
wont give
it up. Text flows from column to column, around pictures. Several fonts
can be
used in several different sizes. Multiple page documents in memory.
(August
'88)
$29.95cc Diamond Drawc An object oriented drawing
program so that images used in Diamond Publish will look smooth at
any size.
Draw squares, rectangles, circles, and use several different fill styles.(No
release date set) $29.95cc
Diamond Basicc A Basic language designed
to take full advantage of the speed and power of Diamond(tm).(No release
date
set) $29.95cc
Diamond Asmc A complete assembly language development
system geared towards the Diamond environment. Allows for macros, conditional
assembly, and more.(No release date set)
$29.95cc Diamond Cc A C
language environment that will take complete advantage of Diamond's
many
powerful capabilities.