Return to the Article Index
Return to the Main CD Index

GeoSpecific - Welcome to the Future!
(or, Never Is a Long Time From Now)
by Bruce Thomas

When I bought my first C-64 System (with 1702 Monitor and 1541 Disk Drive) in November 1983 I was interested in bringing my family (at that time we had one 'almost-2-year-old' daughter) into the computer age. It never dawned on me that I would still be using Commodore computers when that child was ready to enter University. A lot has changed in that time but I still adore my 64 as we keep discovering things that a Commodore would 'never' be able to do.

I find, as a user, that I like to push my system to the limits and that means some things get left behind. The original 64 and 1541 still work but have been 'retired' in favor of newer models; the 1702 is used daily by my 3 children with their Sony PlayStation. My desk now holds a C-64C and a C-128D plus a lot of other hardware we will touch on throughout this article.

In future articles I will do my best to include useful info for users who don't have power systems. In all of the time that I have used GEOS there were a number of years when I did so with a stock 64 and two 1541 disk drives. While that seems like a painful thing to attempt nowadays I know there are many users out there who don't have top-of-the-line systems and they still need tips on what software to use, and how to use it, to push their experiences to the limit.

Cheap Storage

One item that I keep on top of my 1802 Monitor is a 5 1/4" Disk Notcher. This little gem has gone from daily usage to being a dust collector - a throwback to times when my system was simpler and storage space was more expensive.

I still use a 5 1/4" disk drive occasionally but these days that means the internal 1571 in my 128D. The presence of the 1571 (which writes to both sides of the disk with no 'flipping') means the notcher is history. The 128D has been fitted with a Drive On/Off switch and a Device 8/9 toggle allowing me to deactivate the 1571 and only turn it on when I need to access an old file.

Another reason I can live without the notcher is that my system now includes a 3 1/2" FD-2000 Disk Drive. When I use High-Density disks I can store almost ten 1541 floppies on one 3 1/2" disk. Most of the software that I use regularly can also be loaded and run from a 3 1/2" disk or I can load the software into my HD Hard Drive or my RAMLink and get terrific performance.

Since I love using GEOS I have found, over the past 12 years, software to do almost anything I want to without leaving the GUI environment. The nature of GEOS and its copy protection scheme mean I am not forced to use a 5 1/4" drive. I can even boot my system from the FD, HD or RL. This wasn't always possible but the constantly evolving world of GEOS is what keeps me using my Commodore. Luckily for me, and the thousands of others like me, we have some highly skilled people keeping our systems current.

Improvements and Updates

I have already mentioned that I have a penchant for CMD hardware. The wonderful folks in East LongMeadow, Maine, provide the horsepower to make GEOS really shine. For a number of years I owned a 4 MHz TurboMaster Accelerator and was able to plow through projects in record time. Of course, the arrival of the 20 MHz CMD SuperCPU left the Schnedler unit eating its dust.

The highly-publicized Y2K bug also affects our GEOS systems. To keep our systems up-to-date (pun intended) we need software updates in addition to hot new hardware. In 1995 I submitted a Y2K patch for the GEOS Calendar program (both versions) to Commodore World Magazine (Issue #10). Werner Weicht recently released (Go64, Oct 99, Page 4) some patches for the Calendar (V1.2 only) and also for geoWrite/geoPublish/geoMerge to allow the DATE function to print correctly. Todd Elliott also put out a patch for GeoWrite 128 (Go64, Sept. 99, Page 4) to fully support four drives.

GEOS itself has also received a big boost with the release of the Wheels and MP3 systems. Not only do these new systems provide us with more control over our advanced hardware but Wheels is a requirement for the new Graphical Web Browser, The Wave, that is currently under development. In order to graphically surf the Internet you will need Wheels, a SuperCPU w/1 MB SuperRAM (minimum), a Swiftlink or Turbo232 and a high speed modem.

GEOS Print Quality
(no longer an oxymoron)

One area in GEOS that rightfully received a lot of flak was printer output. This has also changed dramatically over the years and users currently enGEOy the best output options they ever have.

While a few of us have been using PostScript Lasers for over 10 years now the availability of inexpensive, good quality, used units has made it easier for Commodore users to own one. Dale Sidebottom, one of the PostScript Pioneers, chose another route and just recently bought a brand new LexMark Color Laser which he uses to print truly amazing newsletters for his LUCKY User Group (and the articles are terrific also!).

If you would like to join the Louisville Users of Commodore of KentuckY (LUCKY) to see the wonderful work that Dale produces with his digital camera, Color Laser and Commodore computer send e-mail to luckykds@iglou.com or snail mail to: LUCKY Editor, P.O. Box 303, New Albany Indiana USA, 47151-0303. The membership fee is $20 US per year. Some individual newsletter issues are available separately for a fee.

Surf's almost up

If you have access to the Internet there are lots of resources available to provide answers and help you along. One that is of particular interest to me is a mailing list called COPS. This stands for Commodore Only PostScript and is a list that Dale Sidebottom and myself started up with the able help of Gaelyne Gasson. The main focus of the list is, of course, PostScript printing including printing JPEG images straight from our Commodores (even adding them directly into printouts of geoPublish documents using Maurice Randall's PostPrint II).

Lately we have opened the list up to be the Official Mailing List of The Wave Beta-Test. As you may guess, these two topics really bring out owners of a lot of cutting edge hardware and software and provide plenty for discussion. To subscribe to the list send an e-mail to: cops-request@videocam.net.au with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line and also in the body of the message.

These are just two of many ways to stay in touch with new developments in the world of GEOS. Another one that I have always found useful has been magazines, like the one you are reading now, and I hope to be able to bring plenty of news to you regularly as we move into an exciting future.

Until next time, enGEOy your Commodore!