From: cython@ais.org (Tim Devlin)
Subject: Re: Amax on a 3000 questions...
Organization: UMCC
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 10:24:44 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.165107.1@cc.curtin.edu.au> tlynchhuw@cc.curtin.edu.au writes:
>
>
>I have some questions about AMAX (or is it AMAX II), the macintosh
>emulator for the Amiga. Please answer honestly.....
>
>(where I say AMAX, I mean the latest release)
>
>does AMAX support color monitor emulation? If not will future releases and
>if so when will they come out?

By color monitor, I take it you mean color at all. and the answer is NO
A-Max II does not support color at this time.  A-Max II+ wont either.
im sure in time, if the demand is there, that A-MAX III or something like
that will supprt color, but if you need a color Mac A-Max II is NOT the way
to go.
>I've heard that the emulation on a stock 500 gives the same performance as 
>a MAC SE, is this correct? How fast is a 25Mhz A3000 (ie faster than a Mac II
>fx or what)?

Yes it is true, A-Max II runs VERY fast even on a stock A500.  On my A3000
25 mhz it can go head to head with a Mac II FX in terms of overall speed.

>
>Does AMAX run System 7?

Yes, and No.  The currently released software does not supprt system 7,
however A-Max II+ and the new A-Max software does support system 7 fully.
The problem is, its not out yet.  Readysoft keeps puching back the release
date.  I would be suprised if it did not make it out by the end of Summer.
Basicly people are getting tried of wating for something that was due out a
year ago.  So they will have to release it soon, or people are REALLY going
to loose interest.

>
>Does AMAX run system 7 fully? ie virtual ram etc.

See above.
>
>What mac programs will AMAX not run?

Some games, mostly P.D./shareware that make calls directly to the Mac
hardware tend to crash.  id say 99% of everything else will run fine on
A-Max if it will run on a Mac plus running system 6.0.5  Thats your best
benchmark, if it will run on under system 6.0.5 and on a Mac plus, then it
will more then likely run on A-Max II.  BTW, 6.0.5 is the last version of
the Mac OS that works corectly with the current release of A-Max software.
>
>When AMAX is run on a 68030 machine does it use the 68030 fully or just 
>stick to the 68000 instructions? Does the MAC operating system see the 
>68030 and use it fully?

No, as A-max II only uses the Mac 128k ROM's it has the same limitations
that a Mac plus has in so far as what processor it can see.  It does take
advantage of the 030's speed, thats a for sure, and it does seem to think
that the 030 is an 020.....im not really sure why.
>
>How much ram would an amiga need to give the mac emulation about 3 meg of
>free ram?

you would need 3 megs of Amiga ram.  A-Max II totally takes over the Amiga
computer and for all intents and purposes, turns it into a VERY fast Mac
plus.  I have 6 megs of ram on my A3000 and I get 5.7 megs of freem ram when
I am running A-Max II.

>
>How legal is AMAX? I hear you need Mac ROM's which may be legal or the ROMS
>on disk which I'm sure isn't.

Well, readysoft has not been sued by Apple yet ;)  Seriously, Apple knows
all about A-Max, and has only taken the action of making it VERY hard to get
Mac 128k ROM's  As long as you can supply Mac Roms, A-Max is VERY leagel, as
long as you REALLY use REAL Mac ROM's.  If you use A-Max II and use the disk
based copied Mac 128k ROM's then you have an illegal product on your hands.
I know alot of people who do this however.  I personaly own the A-Max II
system AND real Mac 128k ROM's, I also have a Mac compatible 800k Cutting
Edge floppy drive connected to my A-Max II cart.  This makes it VERY easy to
run Mac software.  I have a 30 meg Mac partion set up on my A3000's hard
drive, and it runs VERY well.

>
>What other things should I know before I go and do a deal that I haven't 
>mentioned above?

Well, if you run A-max II on an A3000 with 6 megs of ram, a hard drive
partition or actualy Mac hard drive, toss a Mac floppy on the A-Max cart.
and connect a Laser-printer and run it in productivity mode on a multi-sync
monitor, you are left with one kick-ass Mac plus mono system running at the
speed of a Mac II FX.  A-Max II with the Rom's and floppy drive will run you
about $500 new, or as little as $300 used.  thats a VERY cheap Mac if you
ask me, and a 1/2 way decent system to boot.

Three things to think about:

1: Readysoft, while doing a great job on A-Max II, it horrid about releasing
new versions of A-Max.  As I stated before, A-Max II+ was due out A LONG
time ago, and has yet to see the light of day, when it DOES arrive, it will
give you direct midi and appletalk support, as well as run system 7.0 or
even 7.1 I would think.
2: if you need a color Mac, then you may be in for a wait of at least 2-3
years, I don't see them releasing a color A-Max anytime soon, but hey, who
knows that might just suprise us.....question is..are you willion to bet on
it?  If on the other hard, color is no big deal for you, then this is not
even a problem.
3: overall A-Max II is a hell of a Mac solution for current Amiga owners,
esp. if you own an A3000 with a big hard drive, VGA or Multi-sync monitor
and alot of ram.  If you don't own an Amiga, then you might want to look at
an actual Mac II classic or something long those lines....for me A-Max just
gives me yet even more software to run on my A3000, I also have a 386sx
Bridgeboard with SVGA-multi-function card (no, its the THE 38sx BB, it's the
ATOP enhanced 286).  So I can run a hell of alot of software on my A3000,
and this I L O V E to no end.
>
>Huw
>- Thanks in advance to any replies.
>
Your welcome..