HINTS FOR BEGINNERS 

			   by Leigh Murray


    Ed: Leigh has gone to the trouble here of documenting all the advice
  he wishes he'd had when he started with his Amiga some time ago, and
  he's done a great job - any beginner or intermediate user will find
  plenty of useful information here.


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1.  ATTEND MEETINGS OF YOUR LOCAL USER GROUP AND LEARN WITH FRIENDS

    Try to find an Amiga User Group near where you live, and attend the
  meetings; they can be very helpful.  And perhaps you could chum up with
  another person there who's in the same boat, and learn together, using
  each other's computers.  Learning should be quicker, less frustrating
  and more fun (and you won't feel quite such a fool when you need to call
  for help, if two of you have failed to figure out something).


2.  ASK QUESTIONS

    It is good to try to learn by discovering how to do things yourself;
  it can be very satisfying when you finally work something out.  But if
  you can't figure it out within a fairly short time, don't just give up
  or go bonkers with frustration, ASK SOMEONE WHO KNOWS.  Suitable people
  to ask include experienced Amiga-users at User Group meetings (and some
  Users Groups list phone contact numbers for help), or perhaps Megadisc.
  [Ed: Definitely Megadisc, if you've bought any of our products, or
  intend to!]

3.  READ MAGAZINES AND BOOKS

    Read Amiga magazines, such as AUSTRALIAN COMMODORE AND AMIGA REVIEW
  (often abbreviated as ACAR), AMIGA SHOPPER (which has helpful
  explanatory paragraphs for beginners plus excellent reviews of products)
  and MEGADISC (consider subscribing).  Check out the computer sections in
  larger bookstores - you may find helpful books, such as the ABACUS
  "Amiga for Beginners".  Also, the Hard Disk Cafe in Sydney (phone (02)
  979 5833) sell a Beginners Video which they made themselves - it's not
  super-professional, but it provides a good coverage of the basics.


4.  USE YOUR AMIGA PRODUCTIVELY

    Play a few games - they'll help you gain some familiarity with your
  new computer - but also try wordprocessing, spreadsheet or database
  work, or perhaps try your hand at computer art or music.  You will get a
  lot more fun out of your Amiga if you use it mainly for productive,
  creative or educational tasks, and only occasionally for games.  Games,
  although great fun, can be addictive time-wasters.  Use your Amiga to
  write letters or reports, keep track of your finances, keep records
  (addresses, birthdays, house contents for insurance purposes, recipes,
  VCR tapes, CDs), create pictures or greeting cards, learn to type or
  play the piano, or learn a computer programming language and write your
  own special-purpose programs.

    Public Domain programs

    Once you have some familiarity with your machine and can handle
  windows, icons and file requesters with ease, then suitable programs can
  be obtained very cheaply from the Public Domain (PD) libraries. Select
  carefully and try to get advice first, or read reviews, to ensure that
  you start off with a good product (not all are).  For instance, in the
  Public Domain, TextPlus and QED are well-regarded as text processors,
  and both can be obtained from the Megadisc PD library for $3.50 (or
  $2.50 for subscribers), with a very prompt mail-order service.

    Commercial software

    For the absolute beginner with the Amiga (I was one myself a year
  ago), I recommend the purchase of at least one item of commercial
  productivity software, such as a word processor or a database.
  Generally speaking, commercial software is more user-friendly and has
  much better documentation than does PD software - and that makes it
  possible for a beginner to get up and running virtually straight away
  with minimal frustration.  You'll learn about your Amiga almost as a
  side effect of using the package.  And once you can understand and use
  one of these commercial products, you'll be in a stronger position for
  exploring the world of Public Domain software.

    PhotoLab & ProWrite

    Commercial products I've found easy to use and well-documented (the
  two most important criteria in the selection of a product for a
  beginner's use) include DeluxePhotoLab for art, and ProWrite [Ed: see
  the review this issue] for word-processing.  A suitable alternative to
  PhotoLab for just "painting" would be DeluxePaint, the BIG seller of the
  art world.  Or you might enjoy a new product, Pelican Press, designed
  specifically for the production of greeting cards, calendars or
  invitations; it comes with a lot of ready-made pictures called clip art
  to make life easier for you.  (There is also plenty of clip art
  available from the PD libraries for use in paint packages, if you'd like
  to try computer art but can't draw well.)

    Other Word Processors

    For basic word processing, QuickWrite, put out by the same people as
  ProWrite at about half the price, should be equally easy to use and
  quite adequate if you don't wish to use fancy fonts or include pictures
  in your documents.  And if you start off with QuickWrite (which several
  reviewers consider an ideal beginners' word processor), then you can
  later upgrade to ProWrite, by paying an upgrade fee.  An alternative
  might be the well-regarded TransWrite, although this may take a little
  longer to learn.

    If you DO wish to include pictures in your documents, particularly
  colour pictures, then Pen Pal should be your choice - ProWrite handles
  some colour pictures well, but it does some dreadful things to many
  others; you could also consider the very expensive Wordworth.  Reviewers
  have commented on the excellent documentation that comes with both Pen
  Pal and Wordworth.  KindWords is best avoided - I've seen it described
  as quirky, unreliable and poorly documented - and excellence! handles
  pictures, but not well; its strength lies in its index and
  table-of-contents generation features.

    Databases

    Another good early choice of commercial packages might be HyperBook, a
  new product that I've just looked at from a demo disk (obtainable from
  Megadisc, number DE101, if you wish to try before you buy).  Its makers
  describe it as a free-form personal information manager - it's a sort of
  fancy database tool.  It seems very easy (and fun) to use, and with it
  you should be able to set up all sorts of beautifully-presented and
  professional-looking files; its makers suggest such applications as
  address books, diaries, filing systems, storybooks, scrapbooks etc etc.
  On a quick evaluation, I think it should be suitable for a beginner (but
  check its requirements for RAM and disk drives).  For a more traditional
  database, consider SuperBase Personal.

    Other well-regarded commercial products are Mavis Beacon Teaches
  Typing; Distant Suns, an astronomy package for star-gazers; My Paint, a
  painting program for kids; and the Miracle Piano Teaching System, a new
  product that has had rave reviews.  All of these should be suitable for
  beginners and fun to use, although they will probably not teach you as
  much about using the Amiga as would a word processor, database or art
  package.

    WARNING: when buying commercial software, check first that you have
  enough memory to run the program - many commercial programs need 1MB RAM
  to run at all, and most will perform better with this or more.


5.  EXTRA HARDWARE

    The Amiga is a powerful computer, but only a fraction of its potential
  can be realised on a basic Amiga 500 system without at least 1MB memory,
  an extra disk drive, a printer and a monitor.  So add on more equipment
  as soon as you can afford to; you'll enjoy your Amiga so much more.  A
  printer is an essential if you are to use your computer truly
  productively.  Be kind to your eyes and get a monitor - the screen
  resolution is much higher than that of a TV, so it's a lot easier to
  read, and well worth buying.  And if you are planning to buy an extra
  disk drive, then consider getting a hard drive instead of another floppy
  - using one is BLISS - but check first whether the fan noise of your
  chosen drive is going to drive you nuts (some are very noisy), and
  preferably get at least 40MB (it's amazingly easy to fill the things).


6.  BACKUPS

    Buy some blank disks, and make backup copies of ALL your disks
  (although some commercial software is copy-protected and can't be backed
  up with normal diskcopy functions; the documentation with the program
  should warn you if this is the case).  Look under 'duplicating disks' in
  your Amiga manual for instructions; if you still need help, ASK someone
  appropriate.

    Use the backup copies of programs for everyday use - keep the original
  disks tucked away safely somewhere out of the way.  Do NOT store near
  strong magnetic sources (such as speakers) which can erase your data.

    Backup important data to another disk as soon as it is created - you
  never know when a disk might get read/write errors and become unreadable
  (to do this backup, simply save your file to a second disk).

    For important data, such as that art masterpiece you've just created,
  consider leaving a backup copy "offsite" - that is, at another place,
  such as a friend's house (and make sure the friend knows it's important
  to store the disk in a suitable clean, dry place free of magnetic
  fields).  Then should you have a fire or be burgled, the data won't be
  lost forever.

    If you don't need to write on a disk, keep it write-protected with the
  tab on the disk.  This will prevent accidental overwriting and/or virus
  infection of that disk.


7.  VIRUSES

    Obtain a good virus-checking program, install it on your machine and
  check EVERY disk.  This is VERY IMPORTANT so if you don't know what to
  do, ASK someone who does.

    Suggested virus-checkers are ZeroVirus, KDV and NoVirus (all
  obtainable via Megadisc). [Ed: And VirusChecker on this disk, too.]

    Because viruses can only "infect" disks to which they can write, you
  can protect many of your disks from infection by leaving the tab on the
  disk in the write-protect position permanently.  From this point of
  view, it is best to organize your disks so that you have separate data
  disks where you save all your letters, artwork, databases etc; only
  these disks need to be write-enabled.

    As a first step before installing virus-checking (but don't delay
  long), you can further protect against a virus infection spreading
  itself throughout your system by doing a "cold start" between (ie,
  before and after) using each new game or software package. To do a
  "cold start", simply turn your Amiga off at the power supply, wait a
  minute (not just a few seconds) and turn it on again; this clears
  everything out of memory, including any viruses lurking there.  A "warm
  start", in which you simply reboot without turning off the power
  (Ctrl/Amiga/Amiga), does not clear memory, and will leave any viruses
  intact.  In the long-term it would be better not to keep turning your
  machine on and off like a yo-yo (it's kinder to the equipment), and,
  anyway, this is a slow and ineffective way of using the wondrous power
  of the multi-tasking Amiga.  So install virus-checking (and, preferably,
  a memory clearer), and simply do a cold start once daily or weekly.

    WARNING: if a virus-checker detects an unknown boot block on a disk,
  this does not necessarily mean the disk is infected with a virus.  The
  boot block may simply be a non-standard boot block; this occurs quite
  commonly with games.  Do NOT give the virus-checker permission to
  overwrite this boot block (it will always ask politely first) unless you
  are SURE it is a virus, or you may render the disk unusable.  If in
  doubt, ask someone experienced.


8.  GET TO KNOW YOUR COMPUTER

    To become familiar with the way the Amiga works, try out some
  housekeeping tasks which will give you a feel for how the machine
  functions, and the structure of files.  Understanding the file
  structures is extremely important, as without this understanding you
  won't be able to save and reload files and, therefore, you'll be unable
  to do much productive work.

    The safest way to learn is to make an extra backup copy of a disk and
  play with that; this way you can't do any permanent damage by deleting
  files.  Read your Amiga manual and then try some of the following
  suggestions:

    .  INITIALISE a disk and RENAME it.  Perhaps you could create a disk
  called LETTERS01 or ART01 to contain your letters or artwork.

    .  Change window sizes, drag windows, open many windows at once and
  then swap between them - your Amiga manual will tell you how to do these
  things.

    .  Create drawers (either by DUPLICATE, or by dragging the Empty
  drawer from your Workbench disk into the new window and then RENAMEing
  it), perhaps on the disk you've just formatted.  You could, for
  instance, create drawers labelled with the names of relatives or friends
  to hold the letters for each of those people (eg, drawers labelled Mum,
  Peter etc).

    .  Investigate the SNAPSHOT and CLEANUP commands - they are very handy
  for tidying up a mess of icons in a window, or for fixing the shape of a
  window or its location on the screen; also try these with the shift key
  held down while selecting multiple icons.

    .  Be very wary of the DISCARD command.  It is safer to delete files
  using the Trashcan method, or via a directory utility or CLI.

    .  Try changing Workbench colours and editing icons (use IE - see
  below - rather than the supplied IconEd).


9. SUGGESTED PD SOFTWARE

    Megadisc Catalogue - look for Beginners Disks (eg, Misc 34 looks
  helpful).

    AQUARIUM, on Misc 10 from Megadisc, is great for easily finding stuff
  on Fish disks (which form an excellent PD collection compiled by a bloke
  called Fred Fish).

    IE icon editor, on Fish 377, allows you to edit icons (change colours,
  draw new pictures etc) which can be fun.

    DIRECTORY OPUS is a great directory utility, and a demo version of
  this is available on UT 238 from Megadisc.  Another good directory
  utility is SID, on Fish 338, but this requires some knowledge to be able
  to install it so it isn't suitable for the absolute beginner.

    DISKSALV, on Fish 251, can be used not only to recover data from any
  dicky disks, but also to recover files you accidentally delete (as long
  as you do NOT write on the disk again before running DiskSalv).

    TEXTPLUS text processor on Fish 359 is regarded well, as is the QED
  text processor on Amigan 23.

    SNOWFALL, on Fish 303, is simply a picture of snow falling on the
  Amiga logo; it looks best after running for, say, 20 minutes in a
  darkened room.  (You can substitute your own picture for the logo.)  I
  love it.

    MANDEL MOUNTAINS, on Fish 383, has some wonderful Mandelbrot and Julia
  pictures.  Even if you aren't into maths, these pictures are wows.  Just
  double-click on a picture icon to display its beauty.


10.  FINALLY (Finally!)

    Well, I hope you have as much fun with your Amiga as I'm having with
  mine.  It's a GREAT machine.  Happy Amiga computing.



Leigh Murray
Queanbeyan NSW

January 1992


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