New York Times Article - November 10th, 1987

[Blacklord]

LEAD: THE Commodore 128, introduced a few years ago, is an odd bird. It is, in effect, three different computers in one box. In its first mode, it is completely compatible with the enormously popular Commodore 64 (now 64c), and you can plug all of the 64 peripherals into the 128 or run any of the thousands of programs written for the older machine.

THE Commodore 128, introduced a few years ago, is an odd bird. It is, in effect, three different computers in one box. In its first mode, it is completely compatible with the enormously popular Commodore 64 (now 64c), and you can plug all of the 64 peripherals into the 128 or run any of the thousands of programs written for the older machine. In its third mode, it is a CP/M computer, with a separate central processing unit that can run zillions of the programs written for that venerable operating system, many of them ranging down from quite reasonable in price to darned near free, and use disks formatted on other CP/M computers, KayPros and Osbornes among them. Only in its second configuration is it a Commodore 128 proper, with faster disk drives available (the latest version has one drive built in), more memory, a crisper and more professional display, improved graphics and sound and an advanced version of the BASIC language built in.

So what's the problem? Well, CP/M has been rendered obsolete by MS-DOS, the operating system of the I.B.M. PC and its compatibles. Another problem, strangely enough, is that the Commodore 64 remains an interesting entry-level computer, with new software still being added to its library, and Commodore has made millions of 64's, not millions of 128's. So a software developer who publishes programs for the 64, which the 128 can run in its 64 mode, has a far larger potential customer base than if he published for the 128 alone.

Not that there aren't programs specifically for the 128 running as a 128. But there are far fewer, and the choice among types is far smaller.

Another problem for the 128 is that, when it was barely out of the shipping container, the 64 got GEOS. The Graphic Environment Operating System turns the 64 into a little Macintosh, with icons, pull-down menus and a mouse, and that is the direction in which the whole world of personal computing appears to be moving. You can write, draw, keep an electronic Rolodex, maintain a database, do your disk housekeeping and most of the other things the Big Deal computers can do without ever learning a word (well, maybe a word) of computerese.

For example, to format a disk -that is, to prepare it to receive data -with the normal Commodore operating system, you might type in a series of commands like: OPEN15,8,15 (RETURN) PRINT15,''N0:MYDISK,20'' (RETURN) PRINT15,''I0'' (RETURN) CLOSE15 (RETURN). To accomplish the same task with GEOS, you push a pointer around the screen with your faithful little mouse to a box that says ''disk.'' Click the button on the mouse and a menu of options pops up on the screen. Move the pointer to the word ''format'' and click again. That's it.

Of course, the 64 has limitations, even with GEOS. The disks hold a mere 170,000 characters, and the computer can display only 40 characters across on a monitor, not the 80 characters of a standard printout, leading to several annoying contortions if you want to see on the screen what you'll get on the page.

Now we have GEOS128. It does all of the above, and overcomes most of the constraints inherent in the 64 version, and truly turns the Commodore 128 into a contender for the home, home-office or small-office user who wants to do a job, not become a computer expert, at a bargain price.

You can put twice as much on a disk as you can with the 64 version, assuming you are using the newer 1571 drive, and GEOS128 takes full advantage of the drive's greater speed. And you can use an 80-column monitor, although 40 columns are supported as well.

The initial 128 disk has improved versions of the same two major applications that the 64 first offered: geoPaint, a drawing program, and geoWrite, a word processor. There are also accessories that you can use without exiting from either of those two programs: an alarm clock, calculator, notepad, plus ways of saving pieces of text or graphics for use in other documents. The manual is clear and well-organized, and once you've worked your way through it at the keyboard, you'll probably never need it again. Everything operates with commendable, if not lightning, speed. And even that problem can be resolved with the purchase of a Commodore Ram Expansion Unit, which I have not tried, putting up to 512,000 characters of programs or data into electronic memory, where you can get at it at electronic speed. Seven type faces in a variety of sizes are supplied for use with either geoWrite or geoPaint and more are available, and just about any printer you've every heard of can be employed.

Presumably, the other applications and accessories - an improved word processor, filers and a spreadsheet, for example - that have been developed for GEOS64 will be coming along for GEOS128 (in fact, some of the 64 programs can be run under GEOS128). When that happens, it's Mac for the masses.

The suggested list price of GEOS128 is $69.95. It is produced by Berkeley Softworks, 2150 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, Calif. 94784.