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                      AMIGA 500 Plus - the whole story                       
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			The Commodore Amiga 500 Plus
                              By Ken L. Mays
                                Feb 1992

	In the dark of the night it came upon us. The Amiga 500 Plus is
the "trimmed down A3000", containing the same Agnus, Denise, and Paula
chipset contained in the Amiga 3000. Why? Because most european developers
use an Amiga 500 for their work. The Amiga 3000 is an expensive machine for
most people. The two worlds between the Amiga 3000 and Amiga 500/2000 have
to become one if the Amiga 3000 software market is to ever increase.

	Now I'm not going to waste time and use my English 101/102 skills
to produce a fantastic article. I'm going to cut straight to the facts.
Commodore's infinite wisdom shows us there is a division in the Amiga
market. There are users with:

 1.) Amiga 1000 (Kickstart 1.2/1.3) with original or updated chipsets.
 
 2.) Amiga 500/2000 (Kickstart V1.2/V1.3)
     with 512K or 1 MB Agnus chip, and Denise or Super Denise chips.
 
 3.) Amiga 3000 (Kickstart V1.3-V2.04) and the Super Denise /
     2 MB Agnus chips.
 
 4.) CDTV and compatibles.
 
 Note: Then there is the language barriers and the NTSC/PAL problems.

	I want to include the Amiga 1000 users even though Commodore is
trying to get them to convert to either the A500/A2000 market or A3000
market.

	Now, a developer has to design a game to work on all platforms
(if he/she wants to have a successful product). Problem is that you
have a gigantic market of A500/A2000 users in comparison to A3000 users.
(CDTV falls within the range of owners with Kickstart 1.2/1.3. Not to cast
a bad egg, but will there be a "CDTV Plus" compatible with the A500 Plus?)
Anyhow, the A500 Plus is suppose to slowly bring everyone to using
Kickstart V2.0x. It also brings programmers and developers into building
programs using the 2MB Agnus and Super Denise.

	Now the Amiga 3000 has been out for a year but there is not many
programs that use the 68030/68882 processors to their full potential.
This creates a problem. Another problem is users having Kickstart V2.0x and
those who use Kickstart V1.2/1.3. The majority of the software made for the
Amiga works "properly" with Kickstart 1.2/1.3. ALOT of software does not
work correctly with Kickstart 2.0x unless NofastMem is disabled or a patch
is installed (or "workarounds").

	Take a product like DeluxePaint IV. On the back of the package
it TELLS you that it supports both OS 1.3 and 2.0. Some products like
TransWrite and QuickWrite have the official green "V2.0 compatible" sticker.
Look this information when you buy products and have an Amiga 500 Plus or
any Amiga with Kickstart V2.xx). Without the guarantee, your just burning
your own paychecks.

	Hard facts about the Amiga 500 Plus is that it comes with OS V2.04,
has the 2 MB Super Fat Agnus, Super Denise, 1 MB built onto the motherboard
(which in Rev 7 includes the A501 512K Ram Expander for 1 MB internal 
memory), and some cosmetic changes. Since the A501 is built-in on the
motherboard, the "trap door" is free. You can either install the A501
for 1.5 MB of chip memory or use the upgraded 1 MB A501 for 2 MB of chip
memory (upgrade not currently available before this writing). A lot of 
users with 1 MB Agnus can install the 2 MB Agnus with special hardware
boards from third party companies.

	Consider waiting one to two years before the software market
really catches up to make full use of the new chipset. In Britian, I
know that the "Cartoon Classics" box does not give any information
on whether you have a Amiga 500 Plus or not. What you should do is look
inside the box. There should be a label between the giant "AMIGA" letters
and the power indicator lights. The label should say:
                    
                      "Commodore Amiga 500 Plus"

If you don't see this label then you DON'T have a new Amiga 500 Plus.
Commodore should be making new boxes with the correct information (and
if they don't - complain).

	There is alot I can tell you about the Amiga 500 Plus but you
can read information about the Amiga 3000 and know about the machine's
capabilities (as far as Kickstart 2.04 and the new chipset). I hope
everyone will upgrade to Kickstart v2.04 and the new chipset and 
increase the software base for this fantastic operating system.
(P.S. now if they would only let you use MORE COLORS in those higher
resolutions - sheesh!)



=============================================================================
                      AMIGA 500 Plus - the whole story                       
=============================================================================