** PD/Shareware review / 394 words **

The Atari A to Z book
ON READER DISK
91%
** BC **
Shareware, any machine
Author: Mark Baines, Linnhe Computing
Email: msbaines@cix.co.uk
URL: http://www.stsd.demon.co.uk/linnhe.html
** /BC **

** A_TO_Z.GIF here **

Over the years there have been a few must-buy Atari books. Your Second Manual written by Andreas Ramos, published by the FaST Club was the first, followed by The Calamus Guide to Desktop Publishing, published by Ditek. In 1995 I raided my piggy bank and bought one of the first copies of Mark's A to Z and it's still in regular use today.

A to Z was written with all Atari users in mind with simple definitions beginners can understand alongside invaluable technical data of interest to experienced enthusiasts.

With the original 340 page A5 comb bound book out of print Mark has decided to release it in ASCII format as Shareware which is feasible because there are only two illustrations to worry about.

The ASCII version comprises the converted Protext files used for the fifth and final printing with a some minor changes, updates and revisions. There's a separate file for each letter of the alphabet, two illustrations in IMG format and files covering the title, preface, intro, and appendix pages.
 Although the pages are not completely up to date in a few areas the 2,239 entries, 101 tables and 128,000 words still represents the most comprehensive English language reference work available for the Atari platform.

In case you're wondering Mark did consider releasing A to Z in ST-Guide hypertext format but this would have involved many extra hours of work. Following a discussion on CIX Mark offered us a choice between an immediate ASCII release or just the possibility of hypertext version sometime in the future - so we opted for the ASCII release now! When asked if owners of the printed book are allowed to use the ASCII version without paying the Shareware fee, Mark replied:

** italics **
"I've thought about this situation and as the text files are so much more versatile, as I'm only asking for a fiver and as the book wasn't that expensive to start with, I decided no. Sorry. After all you wouldn't expect a free video after having read the book of the film :-)"
** /italics **

At just five pounds A to Z represents excellent value for money and comes recommended.

** italics **
Joe Connor
** /italics **