Falcon compatibility?

[Gunstar]

I'm thinking of getting a Falcon soon, I've always wanted one of Atari's flagship computers, (origianlly a MEGA, then a TT and now the last one) and I'm wondering about ST/TT compatibility with the Falcon (software and hardware) and also want to know if there are a lot of actual FALCON programs since it never took off. Does it have any cool graphics programs and games (falcon specific) as that's what I'm into...thanks for your replies.

[Gunstar]

Also, how about internet compatiblility? Are there any good web browsers for the falcon and fast modems? (at least 28-56k; as that's the average speed of my ISP service anyway...)

[Tempest]

I gave up on finding a Falcon or a TT030 for under $500, they're just too expensive for what little use they are today (other than being a cool toy). That's why I finally settled on a Mega STE.

 

Tempest

[JazHaz]

Hi Gunstar,

 

>I'm wondering about ST/TT compatibility with the Falcon (software and hardware)

 

Yes compatibility is quite good, but of course a few older programs don't work especially ST games. Having said that you can get a program called Backward (see my website) to enable you to run many of the games anyway.

 

>and also want to know if there are a lot of actual FALCON programs since it never took off. Does it have any cool graphics programs

 

yeah there are loads of graphics programs that take advantage of the Falcon's True Colour (actually 16bit, not 24 as on a PC) graphics modes.

 

A nice one is a lightsynth called Whip! Similar to Trip-a-Tron and Colourspace, you can plug your CD or similar into the Falcon's MIC socket and get pretty patterns that pulse in time with the music (also see my website).

 

Also the Falcon has a couple of utilities that allow you to play MP3 music (which utilises the DSP chip).

 

>and games (falcon specific) as that's what I'm into

 

There's not so many games as the ST, but those that are around are quite nice.

[JazHaz]

Hi Gunstar!

 

>Also, how about internet compatiblility? Are there any good web browsers for the falcon

 

Depends what you mean by "good"?! The best browser at the moment is CAB (Crystal Atari Browser) but it doesn't do Java at all. There are a few others but CAB works better than most.

 

>and fast modems? (at least 28-56k)

 

No problems there. The standard Falcon's serial port can cope with 115Kbps (any higher and you lose system performance), plenty for 56K modems. An acclerated Falcon can cope with the next speed up (I think it's 236Kbps(?)). So not too bad.

 

And I know of Falcon owners who have hooked up to their PC's (spit!) and got broadband connected through to their Falcon.

[Gunstar]

Thanks for the input guys! I'm definately going to get a Falcon, even if it does cost me a bit, primarily for the graphics as I'm an artist, but since I now know that there is some software support for it that is good enough for me!

[t.skid]

Falcon is a great computer I got mine last january on ebay, it cost me something less than US$190.

Now that I've some free time, I'm working on it and soon I hope to surf the web :-)

[Gunstar]

yeah, I'm hoping to eventually get the Falcon set up as my file server for my 8-bit too, like I've been using my PC for now. Hopefully I can get back to the point of not using PC's at all again, between my Dreamcast (web surfing) and the Falcon for my art and all the ST productivity programs and hopefully web surfing too, I hope to be completly PC-free for at least a little longer. I've just always hated PC's and windows and the EVIL Intel/microsoft strangle hold on a once competetive free OS market. LONG LIVE ATARI! Long live Linux/Unix! which is another question...any good Linux or Unix OS for the Falcon (ST/TT)?