JAN
1990: MICROpendium
publishes issue Volume 6, Number 12, consisting of 48 pages.
- TexComp Users Supply PO Box 33084
Granada Hills,
CA 91344 (818) 363-7331, announces first commercial offering of disk
backups
for Atarisoft game modules produced for the TI-99/4A.
- Texaments releases Guidelines,
a graphics
support package for TI-Artist Plus.
- Quality 99 Software, owned by Larry
Hughes, and
located in Washington, DC. since the start of the business in 1982,
moves
to new quarters in 611 26th St. South, Arlington, Virginia 22202. The
company
telephone number is now (703) 836-4629.
- SouthWest 99ers president BJ (Mrs.
Jack) Mathis
reports reservation problems with the Days Inn in Tucson, where
Fest-West
'90 is to be held.
- Don Shorock releases a second catalog
of language
programs for the TI-99/4A.
- Bruce Harrison, author of the
Harrison Word
Processor for the TI-99/4A, reports finding a bug in the program's
"Configure" module. (MICROpendium
Jan90, p.43)
- MICROpendium agrees to provide public
domain
software for Myarc Geneve owners who are not able to get it from
Bulletin
Boards and the commercial on-line information services.
- Assembly language guru Bruce Harrison
announces
that he has discovered and corrected two bugs in his Word Processor
program. Corrected copies of the program are available without cost to
registered users of the program. Send inquiries to Harrison Software
5705
40th Place Hyattsville, MD 20781.
- APPLE -- Apple Computer
discontinues the
Macintosh II line.
FEB 1990: MICROpendium
publishes issue
Volume
7, Number 1, consisting of 48 pages.
- Fest-West '90 takes place on the 17th
and 18th
in Tucson, Arizona, with the SouthWest 99ers User Group as sponsors.
- Asgard Software releases the Asgard
Mouse,
designed by Mike Maksimik. It makes its first public appearance at
Fest-West
'90 in Tucson, AZ.
- The Boston Computer Society offers a P-Code
Manual and disk to the general public for $9.00.
- Asgard Software releases Rock
Runner by
Eric LaFortune.
- Texaments releases The Missing
Link by
Harry Wilhelm of Groton, NY.
- DDI Software (Jim Uzzell) releases
MY-BASE for
the Geneve.
- Jerry MacDonnell of Kirkwood, New
York begins
publishing the Swan's Song newsletter for owners of the Myarc
Geneve
9640 computer.
- The Coriopolis, PA TI-99/4A User
Group disbands.
- Asgard Software (Chris Bobbitt)
announces the
impending release of Spell It!, a fast, assembly language coded
spelling checker for TI-Writer, that is written by Cornell, IA College
student Jim Reiss.
- Douglas Davis of ALL-CARE+ Computing,
announces
the availability of Texas Cooler fans for the TI99/4A
Peripheral
Expansion Box.
- Although he does not release the
name, Alexander
Hulpke of Aachen, West Germany informs the TI Community that he is
writing
a graphics program similar to My-Art, but with many
improvements.
Hulpke reports that the program will run on the Myarc Geneve or the
TI-99/4A
with a DIJIT AVPC or Mechatronics GmbH 80 column card. (Editor's
Note: The program is ultimately released in November 1990 through
Asgard
Software as YAPP (Yet Another Paint Program)).
- Bill Gaskill releases Reminders!,
a date
and appointment tracking program written in TI Extended BASIC. It is
officially
released at Fest-West '90, but the program is withdrawn from the market
a short time later after failing to sell more than 10 copies.
- Page Pro 99 v1.5, a desktop
publishing
application created by assembly language programmer Ed Johnson of
Minnesota,
is released by Asgard Software.
- Asgard Software announces FILE16,
a Disk
Manager 1000-like program, that is designed to allow file copies
between
Corcomp, Myarc and TI disk formats. Unfortunately, the program never
actually
appears on the commercial market.
- Alexander Hulpke's XHi
(Extended High
Resolution Graphics Support) fairware utility is reviewed in
MICROpendium
by Charles Good.
- J. Peter Hoddie (James Peter Hoddie)
announces
the impending release of a Myarc Geneve 9640 version of Wayne Stith's
TI-99/4A Triad program. The application is a combination disk
manager, termnial
emulator and text editor rolled into a single program. The program
would
appear later in the year as Gen-Tri, written for the Geneve by
Dr.
Jerry Coffey.
MAR 1990: MICROpendium
publishes issue
Volume
7, Number 2, consisting of 48 pages.
- T.I.C.O.F.F. takes place in Roselle
Park, NJ.
on March 17th.
- TINET on DELPHI advertises for
subscribers in
MICROpendium.
- Asgard Software officially releases Spell
It!, a new Spelling Checker for the 99/4A. Jim Reiss is the author.
This is only the second such utility ever written for TI-Writer. SPELL
IT! comes in versions for SS/SD drives, DS/DD drives, and hard disks
operating
under Myarc's Hard and Floppy Disk Controller (HFDC).
- Texaments consolidates operations at
the Patchogue,
NY office, moving all phases of their business out of the Yaphank, NY
location.
- Bud Mills releases ROS v8.0
for the HORIZON
RAMDISK, written by Gary Bowser.
- Art Green, author of Macro Assembler
and the
TI-Writer RE-Writes, releases a Multiplan enhancement that
speeds
up the original Microsoft program. The enhancement also provides a
SuperCart
version.
- Joe Delekto and Jon Dyer release TMS9900
CLIPBOARD,
a monthly diskazine of assembly language tutorial information and
programs.
- Bill Gaskill releases Membership
Manager,
a TI-Base application designed for computer User Groups to manage
membership
rosters.
- Keith Bergman starts KBCC, Keith
Bergman Computer
Concepts, in New Philadelphia, OH. New products offered in KBCC's new
catalog
include Spinner, a wheel of fortune type game, Memory Motel,
the
object of which is to place alien guests in their proper room, and
QUIZZARD,
a quiz making and taking utility.
- The Boston TI Fayuh date is moved to
May 5th,
at a different site than originally planned. When the fair does comes
off
it will be poorly attended and not well organized. The lack of Peter
Hoddie
and his organizing skills is painfully obvious.
- MDOS .97h for the Myarc Geneve
9640 is
released.
- APPLE -- Apple introduces the
Macintosh
IIfx.
- COMMODORE -- Commodore offers
Amiga 1000
owners up to $1,000 rebate to trade in their machines for the new Amiga
2000.
APR 1990:
MICROpendium publishes V7N3 consisting of 40 pages.
- Texaments releases Artoons
for TI-Artist
Plus!
- Mickey Schmitt releases GETTING
THE MOST FROM
YOUR CASSETTE SYSTEM.
- Bruce Harrison releases his Word
Processor
v2.0.
MAY 1990: MICROpendium
publishes V7N4 consisting of 48 pages.
- Rave 99 announces its intention to
build a new
peripheral expansion box for the 99/4A.
- Version 3.0 of TI-BASE is
announced by
Texaments.
- Beery Miller announces Windows
9640, Tetris
and Barricade programs for the Geneve 9640, and a new diskazine
for Geneve owners entitled 9640 NEWS.
- Floyd Donaldson announces that his
Donaldson
Software company is ceasing operations. The Canadian firm produced
mainly
cassette based games for the TI-99/4A.
- LGMA Products announces that it has
relocated
to 5618 Applebutter Hill Rd. in Coopersburg, PA 18036.
- Glenn W. Bernasek of Strongville, OH, dba Gee*Bee BASICS,
releases the firm's "* 1990
Software Catalog *" in time to coincide with the popular Lima, OH
Multi User Group conference. The catalog lists some 35 programs, made
up of original works and Gee*Bee BASICS modifications to software
written by other authors
- Asgard Software announces the release
of Castle
Darkholm (E11a-tape/E11b-disk) MSRP $9.95, an adventure by Randy
Cook,
and an adventure named Rattlesnake Bend (E12a-tape/E12b-disk)
MSRP
$7.95, an adventure by West Penn 99er Mickey Schmitt.
- The Hunter Valley Users Group in
Australia announces
the availability of the QUEST RD200 RAMdisk.
- Microsoft releases WINDOWS 3.0
to the
world on May 22nd.
- MISC -- Compute! Magazine is
sold to GMI
by its owner, ABC Publications, who in turn bought it from Compute!
Publications
in September 1983, right after Compute! Publications changed its name
from
Small System Services.
JUN 1990:
MICROpendium publishes V7N5 consisting of 40 pages.
- Jane LaFlamme announces that LaFlamme
and Wrigley
Wholesale, a Gloucester, Canada firm, have ceased operations due to
lack
of sufficient sales volume.
- Rumors circulate around the TI
Community that
interest in the GEnie TI Roundtable is waning.
- Asgard Software releases The
Animator
by Brad Snyder (U01-disk) MSRP $14.95.
- Barry Traver releases CONEY GAMES, a
disk of
games from the first two volumes of The Genial Traveler diskazine.
- Keith Bergman, KBCC, releases YALP,
Yet Another
Lotto Program.
- Bill Gaskill begins a series of
TI-Base tutorials
in MICROpendium.
- COMMODORE -- Commodore ships
the Amiga
A3000.
- MISC -- Quantum Computer
Services announces
Promenade, an on-line service catering to owners of IBM’s new PS/1 Home
Computer. The completion of the Promenade project means that Quantum is
now the only online services provider to create custom online services
for the four major computer manufacturers: Applelink for Apple,
Promenade
for IBM, Q-link for Commodore, and PC-link for Tandy.
JUL 1990: MICROpendium
publishes V7N6
consisting
of 40 pages.
- PRESS, the long-awaited word
processor
from Asgard Software, via assembly language wizard Charles Earl, is
declared
officially dead. Earl gives up on the project after failing to discover
the source of several bugs in the massive program.
- TI-Base 3.01 is released to
address several
bugs discovered in the V3.0 release.
- Tandy introduces the 1000 RL home
computer.
AUG 1990:
MICROpendium publishes V7N7 consisting of 48 pages.
- Texaments releases Starfleet
Technical Drawings
III.
- F. Jay Buckley, Vice President and
Librarian
of the Grand Rapids 99ers, dies on August 13th.
- Harrison Software releases version
2.0 of their Word Processor. The new version possesses the
ability
to be configured
to run from a Ram Disk, plus it adds a Fctn H key to "home" the
active document and a Fctn B key to "bottom" then active document.
- Asgard Reflections replaces
Asgard News.
SEP 1990: MICROpendium
publishes V7N8 consisting of 40 pages.
- GEnie announces a $4.75 monthly fee
for use if
its on-line information services. The fee is to take effect October 1st.
- Compuserve announces the creation of
a support
library for Page Pro 99 files similar to the GEnie TI Roundtable
support
that began on GEnie in September 1989.
- Texaments releases GIF Mania,
a Barry
Boone authored program for displaying and altering GIF images on a
TI-99/4A.
- Tom Freeman of T and J Software,
Pacific Palisades,
California releases HARDBACK, a utility for backing up one hard
disk drive to another hard disk drive.
- The Southwest 99ers Computer Group is
featured
on Arizona Illustrated, a television show broadcast by KUAT-TV, the PBS
station at the University of Arizona.
- Bruce Harrison of Harrision Software
announces
the release of Golf Score Analyzer, a program aimed at letting
golfers
track performance for up to 300 rounds of golf.
- Seattle TI Convention takes place
September 22nd
in Redmond, Washington.
- Bill Gaskill releases Pageform newsletter
editor and formatter for Page Pro 99. The program is submitted as
Public
Domain software.
- Asgard Software releases nine volumes
of Page
Pro 99 templates including; Birthday Cards 1 & 2, Get Well
Cards
1 & 2, Assorted Cards 1, 2 &3, Invitations 1 and Envelopes 1.
OCT 1990:
MICROpendium publishes V7N9 consisting of 40 pages.
- DIJIT Systems (Thomas Spillane),
manufacturer
of the AVPC 80 Column Display Card announces that it is
dropping
out of the TI-99/4A market due to lack of sales volume.
- Mike McCann of McCann Software
announces a relocation
of the firm to 4411 North 93rd St. Omaha, NE 68134.
- The Users Group of Orange County
California give
Hall of Fame awards to John Koloen and Laura Burns of MICROpendium.
- The Central Pennsylvania Users Group
cancels
plans for a TI-Faire that was to take place October 7th. Reluctance and
apathy on the part of the membership are cited as reasons for the
cancellation.
- ASGARD NEWS ON-LINE UPDATE
debuts on CompuServe,
GEnie and Delphi on October 27th.
- Asgard Software announces the release
of Artist
Font Maker, Page Pro Sideways Picture Printer and Tournament Solitaire.
- Asgard Software releases Spell
It! v1.1
by Cornell College, IA student Jim Reiss.
- P16a - DS/DD - $19.95
- P16b - SS/SD - $24.95
- P16c - HFDC - $34.95
- Triton Products Company, chosen in
March 1984
as the "Fulfillment House" for remaining TI-99/4A inventory,
officially leaves the TI-99 market after being purchased by Activision.
- On October 29th, on the heels of the
Triton Products
Company announcement, former Triton owner and co-founder Terry Miller
announces
that he has purchased the rights to market 99/4A products and has
formed
TM Direct Marketing to do so.
- According to Dave Ratcliffe of the
Central Pennsylvania
Users Group, "Word on the 'nets' is that Jack Reilly is no longer
working full time for Myarc."
- APPLE -- Apple discontinues
the Macintosh
Plus, Macintosh SE, Macintosh SE/30 and Macintosh IIx. They turn around
and unveil the Macintosh Classic, the Macintosh LC and the Macintosh
IIsi.
- PC/MS-DOS -- Sega announces
plans to offer
an IBM PC/AT compatible game computer in the spring of 1991.
NOV 1990: MICROpendium
publishes V7N10 consisting of 40 pages.
- Asgard Software demonstrates MIDI
Master
musical interface card by Mike Maksimik at the Chicago TI Faire on
November
3rd. The product supports up to 16 simultaneous polyphonic channels on
multiple MIDI devices, enough music capability to handle a small band
arrangement
on a home computer.
- Texaments releases CHECKtrack checkbook
management program for TI-BASE v3.0 or higher. It is written by Bill
Gaskill.
- Gary Bowser of Oasis Pensive
Abacutors in Ontario,
Canada announces the release of the TI Image Maker (TIM), an
internal
80-column display upgrade for the TI-99/4A.
- Christopher Pratt, doing business as
Electronic
Systems Development Corporation (ESD), announces plans to develop a new
hard and floppy disk controller that will be 99/4A compatible. The new
controller will have an EPROM that allows upgrades to the operating
system
to be loaded from disk and the card will support four hard drives, four
floppy drives.
- Rave 99 owner John McDevitt reports a
problem
with the development of the new TI-99 compatible expansion box, and
announces
that it's planned introduction will be delayed.
- APPLE -- Apple discontinues
the IIc Plus.
DEC 1990:
MICROpendium publishes V7N11 consisting of 48 pages.
- Myarc founder Lou Phillips is said to
be severely
curtailing his TI-99/4A support activities due to a new job and family
demands.
- John Birdwell, author of Disk
Utilities and contributing
programmer to Myarc's MDM5 disk manager, and project programmer for
Myarc's
Tape Streamer software for HFDC backups, is reported to be terminally
ill
with cancer of the liver. He dies on December 27th at age 41.
- Noted TI-99 author and writer Cheryl
Regena Whitelaw
celebrates her 10th anniversary as a TI-99 owner and user.
- MICROpendium reports that Asgard's
new YAPP
(Yet Another Paint Program) drawing program authored by Alexander
Hulpke
does not work properly with the Myarc Mouse, but does work correctly
with
the Asgard mouse.
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