MTOS (C) 1988 SAMPLER by Tom Hunt MTOS is a revolutionary new operating system system shell for Atari 8-bit computers with 256k(+) of internal memory. This is a MTOS sample with some of it's most important features installed. The features of this sampler are as follows. * ALLOWS MULTITASKING OF 2 BASIC USER PROGRAMS * * ATARI DOS 2.5 COMPATABLE * * SUPPORTS GRAPHICS MODES 0-6 * _____________________________________________________________________________ GETTING STARTED WITH THE MTOS SAMPLER Copy MTOS.COM onto an Atari dos 2.5 disk that does not have any RAMDISK.COM on it. When this is done, turn off the computer for a few seconds, and turn it back on, with the disk you just created in D1: drive. Boot without holding down the option key (basic enabled). It is suggested that RAMDISK.COM is not on the dos boot disk, since MTOS uses the extended banks, and any files in your ramdisk might get corrupted. Type "DOS" from basic's "READY" prompt. When you get to the DUP.SYS menu, type "L" for binary load. At the next prompt (for the filename,) type "MTOS.COM". After MTOS is done loading, you should be looking at the Executor (aka Exec, task-manager) screen. You can now initialize 2 user tasks, which in this sampler, is limited to basic. To attach (view) a task, choose the "view" option, choosing from the list of active tasks. Limit your viewing to tasks 1 thru 2, since tasks 3 thru 6 are non-existant in this sampler version. If you followed the above instructions, you should be looking at basic's familiar "READY" prompt. To detach from a task, just plug your joystick in to the second joystick port, and press the button. You will automatically reattach to Exec. _____________________________________________________________________________ MTOS stands for M.ulti-T.asking O.perating S.ystem. It is more properly called a shell, since it works with your dos and the Atari o.s. rom. It offers the Atari 8-bit owner a new dimension of computer enjoyment- the ability to run more than one program at one time. I have designed MTOS to place as few constraints on people wanting to write programs that will run under MTOS as possible. There are a few constraints, however. Your programs simply have to be "well behaved" in that they can't indescriminately go poking around in memory, since our CPU doesn't support protected modes. In other words, don't expect your boot games to run under M.T.O.S. User programs are limited to 16k. _____________________________________________________________________________ Here are the features supported by the full implementation of MTOS, which can be purchased from the address given at the end of this file. * PREEMPTIVE MULTITASKING * * ALLOWS MULTITASKING OF 6 TASKS (5 DEFINED BY THE USER) * * (LIMITED) SUPPORT OF SPARTA DOS- * * COMMAND PROCESSOR * * BATCH FILES * * BINARY LOAD * * BINARY LOAD FROM THE EXECUTOR * * SUPPORTS INTERMIXED BINARY AND BASIC PROGRAMS * * SUPPORTS LOCALIZED CUSTOM CHARACTER SETS * * SUPPORTS LOCALIZED SCREEN COLOR VARIABLES * * SUPPORTS THE ABILITY TO CHANGE TASK PRIORITY FROM THE EXEC LEVEL * * EXTENSIVE DOCUMENTATION THAT ALLOWS THE MTOS PROGRAMMER ACCESS TO * * SYSTEM VARIABLES * * PRIORITY SCHEDULING * * SAMPLE BASIC PROGRAMS * * PAGE 6 OF MEMORY FREE FOR USER PROGRAMS * * HIERARCHICAL FILE SYSTEM * * (ALLOWS FOR SIMULTANEOUS FILE ACCESS) * * 100% MACHINE LANGUAGE * * MINIMAL SYSTEM OVERHEAD * * PAGES 0-5 OF MEMORY AVAILABLE TO M.L. PROGRAMMERS FOR EACH TASK * *_________________________________________________________________________* * There is a support BBS for registered owners of MTOS, where upgrades, * * patches, and end user application programs will be made available. * * technical questions from registered users will be answered within 48 * * hours on the BBS. We intend to enhance MTOS and support it's users. * *_________________________________________________________________________* *************************************************************************** PROJECTED ENHANCEMENTS TO MTOS *_________________________________________________________________________* * * *A TOOLKIT FOR MTOS APPLICATION PROGRAMMING * *INTERTASK COMMUNICATION (WITH TASKS APPEARING AS FILES TO EACH OTHER) * *MTOS FILE SERVER * *SUPPORT OF HI RES GRAPHIC MODES * *SUPPORT FOR THE 128K 130XE * *_________________________________________________________________________* * * * * * * AND NEW PRODUCTS *_________________________________________________________________________* *A SWITCHER THAT ALLOWS- * * 3 VIRTUAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS TO RESIDE IN MEMORY AT ONE TIME (256K+) * * EACH OF WHICH CAN BE CONFIGURED FOR A DIFFERENT DOS * * EACH IS A "SNAPSHOT" OF SYSTEM MEMORY/CONFIGURATION * * INSTANTANEOUSLY SWITCHABLE WITH A SHIFT-CONTROL KEY COMBINATION * *************************************************************************** ########################################################################### # The BASIC Programmers Pal (r) Six-Pac of POP-UP Hidden Software Tools! # # Conversion Table (Atascii, Icode, Mnemonic, Hex, Decimal) # # Current BASIC Pointer Values, Disk Sector/Directory Reader # # Calculator (Hex, Decimal [16-bit], Add, Sub, Mul, Div, And, Or, Xor) # # OS Register Values, Disassembler, Memory Peeker # ########################################################################### *_________________________________________________________________________* * * * MTOS version 1.1 is now avalable for a special introductory price of * *$15.00 which is current until March 1988. MTOS ver.1.1 can be ordered * *by sending $15.00 in check or money order to: * * * * DATAQUE * * 3308 PARK AVE. W. * * P.O.BOX 134 * * ONTARIO, OH 44862 * * * *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** *****************