Hi!
Some time ago somebody asked about the pros and cons with MagiC and
N.AES. I tried to reply, but for some reason STinG+NEWSie refused to
send it (I was on vacation and only had access to a Mega ST) so I try
again:
MagiC:
+ Fast, easy to install, stable. Offical English versions.
- A bit expensive, doesn't work properly on some Falcons, the AES
deviates from the standard set by Atari in some places, a bit
limiting.
N.AES:
+ Fast, easy to install, extremely (incredible actually) stable,
excellent with MiNTOS, cheap.
- No official English versions, no UK or US distributors, some people
find the looks dull (looks like MultiTOS, with some enhancements here
and there).
I was a happy MagiC-user, despite the frequent crashes, and only
bought N.AES because it was cheap and looked interesting. I had played
with MiNTOS a bit, and was fascinated by the idea of combining a good
AES with a unix-like setup. Being used to the speed of MagiC and the
lack of speed in MultiTOS I didn't expect much the first time I fired
up N.AES, but I was very surprised when I ran the first application.
Wow! I haven't looked back since, although I run MagiC from time to
time for testing.
It depends on what you need: If you stick to AES-applications and
nothing else, MagiC is a good choice. I find N.AES equally good
though, especially when you consider the price.
If you want to use MiNTOS then N.AES is highly recommended. MiNTOS has
lots of really good programs ported from unix (especially
internet-clients, but also things like Gnu C++) and is still very
compatible with TOS. It has it's price ofcourse, it needs more memory
than a pure N.AES or MagiC-setup (not a problem with the AB, as most
have 20Mb or more anyway), and like all unix-version it takes some
efforts to learn and maintain.
The biggest problem with both is the poor support. Neither ASH (MagiC)
nor Woller & Link (N.AES) has been particularly helpful, if they
bother replying to questions at all it's just simple "Yes"- or
"No"-answers. If you want service then buy Geneva from Gribnif :-) Dan
Wilga is always very helpful and replies very fast.
/*
** Jo Even Skarstein
http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~josk/
**
** beer - maria mckee - atari falcon - babylon 5
*/
Received on to. jan. 08 1998 - 15:52:22 CET