FAMOS NZ panorama (Version 1.15) Public Release Notes, January 2009
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Welcome to FAMOS, the Foremost Advanced Memory Operating System!
                      ~        ~        ~      ~         ~

Now supplied complete with the FAMOS Integrated Development Environment (FIDE)
featuring a FAMOS version of Tomasz Grysztar's flat assembler (FASM ver 1.48)

by Neville Watkin, New Zealand. All Rights Reserved. www.fa-mos.com
                                                     www.famos.zoomshare.com

1. ZIP Archive contents:

   Version 1.15 is available as a bootable floppy disk image only.

   FAMOS15F.ZIP contains:
   - FAMOS15F.IMG = 1,474,560 bytes
   - FAMOS115.TXT = 8,680 bytes (this file)


2. Installation

   FAMOS15F.IMG should be written to a standard 1.44Mb floppy disk using a
   disk image transfer utility such as RAWRITE. This will create a bootable
   FAMOS floppy disk.


3. What's new in this version?

   * FAMOS Flight Simulator (beta) - item 4 page 3

   * FARTED (FAmos Resident Text EDitor) - item C page 1

   * Rotating Message does NOT run on boot-up
     (can be run by pressing 3 twice on GUI page 1, or
      hitting CursorDown 3 times, then Enter twice)


4. FAMOS Graphical User Interface

   The GUI does not (yet) have a mouse driver! All functions are controlled by
   the keyboard (i.e. the 103-button mouse which doesn't have to be moved!)
   Generally valid keys are shown on "buttons" and highlighted in yellow e.g.
   pressing  t  or  T  will immediately change the text font.

   There will be more than 40 entries pre-loaded into memory, listed 16 per
   screen in the "memory contents summary". Context-sensitive help is provided
   in a rotating message. "Online" help is also available.

   The GUI format is presently 640 x 480 x 256 colours. New versions are under
   development.

   The PrtSc key can be used if necessary to restart the GUI (intended for
   "emergencies" rather than for normal use).


5. Pre-loaded Memory Entries

   The following are in memory immediately upon bootup. Selecting an entry
   displays its exact location in memory, and gives "Run..." options etc.
   (Software NOT originally written by myself is noted accordingly).

   FAMOS Executive
   FAMOS Online Help
   FAMOS Media Access
   FAMOS Rotating Message
   FAMOS Date & Time Display
   FAMOS USB Device Information
   FAMOS Memory Editor
   FAMOS Logo
   FAMOS Zoom (requires linear video buffer)
   FAMOS Integrated Development Environment **** NEW see 5. below ****
   FAMOS Bitmap Image Viewer (4-32 bit)
   FAMOS Tiny Text Display Utility
   FAMOS Movie Player
   Multi-coloured Ribbons (orig. by Bas van Gaalen, then SinDots by Harekiet)
   Endless Frames (originally by HighTower of Miranda)
   Multi-coloured Circles (original author unknown but based on "pixel" by kat)
   The Truth About Disks (original author unknown, but displayed
                          the message "Only Beer Makes It Possible")
   A Portrait of Winnie the Pooh (originally by Akos Fekete aka Chut)
   Random Dot Magic Eye "Finger" (originally by CrASH_Man and Barubary)
   3D Tunnel with Bouncing Ball (originally by Kasper Ronning)
   TRON 2-player Snake (originally by brioche/aspirine)
   Jail Break Tiny Text Adventure (originally by tasmboy)
   Neville's Computer Organ
   Top Speed (originally by Akos Fekete)
   Tetris 3 (originally by Sverre H. Huseby, Norway)
   Space Invaders (originally by Paul S Reid)
   Pitman with Puzzle Designer (originally by hitchhikr Softworks)
   Air Traffic Control Simulation (originally by David Lindauer)
   ATC Simulation Information
   About Limited Legacy Programs
   Snake (originally by Sverre H. Huseby, Norway)
   Othello (originally by M. W. Bayley)
   Othello Information
   Pacman (originally by Greg Kuperberg)
   Neville's FAMOS Rubik Cube (originally by Doug Cox, CA)
   FAMOS Flight Simulator V2 beta
   The FAMOS Dream
   Watkin Audio Player/Recorder
   USB Audio Stereo Test Sound (see note below)
   Hello World by Neville Watkin ) ASM source code samples
   Decimal Clock                 ) for demonstrating/testing/
   FAMOS Programming Manual      ) running the IDE (FIDE)

   A note about playing the USB Test Sound using the Watkin Audio Player:
   - To fit on a floppy, this test sound is only 0.76 sec long but provides a
     nice stereo effect by alternating the left and right channels.
   - Last minute testing on some systems revealed a problem here: because the
     Watkin Audio Player defaults to "Repeat Item" mode, the USB audio device
     is re-enumerated every 0.76 seconds which can leave the CPU no time to
     service keyboard interrupts, so the sound can't be stopped by pressing
     any key!
   - The solution: use the PrtSc "emergency" restart GUI key if necessary.


6. FAMOS Integrated Development Environment (FIDE)

   Text Editor, Assembler, Memory (Hex) Editor and more!

   Example 1:
   Select and run FIDE (Item 9 on page 1 of the boot-up screen)
   Press Enter then 0 twice to view the Hello World sample ASM source
   Text Editor keys: cursors, Ins, Backsp, PgUp/Dn, Home, End, Ctrl-PgUp/Dn
   Text Editor Function keys: F7 Exit, F8 Edit code, F9 Assemble source
   Press F9 Assemble source ->
   "flat assembler by Tomasz Grysztar generated 00001200 bytes."
   Press a key then press F8:Edit code, then F5:Run code .... Press Enter.
   Press F4:Edit source to return to the text editor, then F7 to exit
   Press PgDn twice to observe the new memory entry created by the IDE which
   can also be run independently in the usual manner.

   Example 2:
   The Decimal Clock source is a brand new program I've developed using FIDE.
   It shows the time of day divided into 10 hours, 100 minutes per hour, and
   100 seconds per minute.  Midnight is Hour 0 and Midday Hour 5.
   The digital display format is  H.MM.SS where H=0-9 and MM and SS=00-99
   The analogue display format is a large circular clock face with hour 0 at
   the bottom and hour 5 at the top so the hours indicate the position of the
   sun.
   The source has been left with 3 deliberate (but obvious) errors to test and
   demonstrate the error handing ability of FIDE. The assembler will indicate
   the line numbers with the errors, and the text editor will automatically
   position the source at each of the lines in error.
   The source also demonstrates the code sequence needed to return to FIDE
   after running the code via F5. If this code is enabled the source assembles
   to 2853 bytes. If the standard FAMOS exit only is used the source assembles
   to 2850 bytes.

   Of course, you can change the sources, or start with a new one by pressing
   N on the initial screen, to write your own assembly programs in FAMOS. This
   gives you the ability to not only write FAMOS applications, but to write
   FAMOS system software as well. You could even write your own OS using FAMOS
   as a development platform!


7. Media contents:

   The following items are also available from the boot disk via the FAMOS
   "Media Access" utility (as well as all pre-loaded items listed above),
   and are listed on the "media contents summary" screen:

   Icon Editor
   FAMOS Fonts Demonstration
   Four-Handed 500 (originally by P. Harrop from New Zealand)
   Falling Snowflakes (originally by Jomppa)
   Neville's Computer Organ Ver 4 (my work still in progress)
   Test Images (16 and 256 colours)
   "Dial-up web-browser" (R18 restricted access due to adult content)
   FAMOS Last Words


8. FAMOS Limited Legacy Programs (LLP's)

   Most of the games and effects programs listed above were originally
   written for DOS and I've ported them to FAMOS. Mostly they should work
   reliably, but usually it has been impractical to modify them sufficiently
   to guarantee their peaceful co-existence in a memory operating system
   environment. All programs in this category are called Limited Legacy
   Programs (type "LLP") in FAMOS. Wherever possible original displayed
   credits have been retained.
   The bottom line is:  FAMOS system functions (e.g. USB) are not guaranteed
                        after running any LLP, including Flight Simulator.
   For further information, run "About Limited Legacy Programs" in FAMOS.


9. Feedback

   Please try FAMOS, and let me know about your expereience. You can send
   feedback by email to:

                          neville (at) fa-mos.com


Neville Watkin
January 2009

