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From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: new stuff coming in '88
Message-ID: <34969@sun.uucp>
Date: Fri, 27-Nov-87 17:16:16 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.34969
Posted: Fri Nov 27 17:16:16 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 30-Nov-87 00:44:27 EST
References: <2358@gryphon.CTS.COM> <2839@cbmvax.UUCP> <1546@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 33

[WARNING: Man talking through his hat below ... ]

In article <1546@ssc-vax.UUCP> mcrae@ssc-vax.UUCP (Brian Mcrae) writes:
>      Will these new chips work on the 1000?  If not why?  Is this a 
>      good reason to update to the 2000 if they don't work on the 1000.

I'm willing to bet that they won't go into the A1000 because the A1000
wasn't designed to take them. Adding an address line to the Chip memory
bus would be a lot of hardware hacking. Also I believe the new chips will
use a different package layout, if so that would mean additional towers.
Anything is possible when the truely demented get hold of a soldering iron
(I won't mention any names) so I won't say it can't be done. It is a good
reason to upgrade to a 2000.

>      Probably more important, if they don't work on the 1000 will they 
>      be supported by software developers who will want to reach the 
>      broadest market possible (i.e. if software works with extra 
>      fat agnes chip will it work with the current pals.) 

Again my impression is that the only changes you will see real soon would
be 1Meg of chip ram. This shouldn't break any programs. The biggest benefit
will be that you can have more interactive tasks lying around because they
won't run out of chip memory for their screens/windows. Also if you are
doing double buffered overscan animations in 16 colors you need 321K of
chip ram just for the two buffers. Last but not least, if Games take 
advantage of this 1Meg Chip ram they wouldn't work on the A1000. By the
same token no one seems to write games that take advantage of extra memory
because they 'write to the lowest common denominator' and since not everyone
with a 500 or 2000 will feel the need to upgrade I think you are safe.

--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.