editorial

TYPO II...STARTING NEXT ISSUE

TYPO II is ready--Antic's all-new, much easier proofreading program! This short BASIC program immediately shows the exact line where you made a mistake while typing in listings from the magazine.

TYPO II automatically checks your typing line-by-line. You'll know if you mistyped something on any line of the listing. . .as soon as you type it!

ATARI SERVICE NEWS!

One of the questions Antic has been asked most often since the Jack Tramiel takeover of Atari is: "What's happening to repair service?

Antic can now give you the answer. . .

At press time, Atari Corp. had just sent a letter to all the approximately 1,700 Factory Authorized Independent Service Centers in the U.S. The letter said that the centers had 30 days to either convert to a new status of "Non-Warranty Referral Network". . .or remove all their Atari signs and send back all Atari technical documentation.

Under the new policy, 90-day warranty coverage must now be obtained by exchanging a defective item at the store where you bought it. This is exactly the same system that Tramiel found to be cost-effective at Commodore.

But non-warranty repairs are obviously of greater concern to most Antic readers. These repairs will be available from the service centers that choose to become "Non-Warranty Referral Agents." Next month's Antic will have a directory of currently active Atari service facilities. (Repair contractors who wish to appear in the directory should write to Steve Randall at Antic, or phone 415-661-3400.)

What about parts? The policy now is that Atari won't sell "accessories and components" direct to the public. You can only get Atari-made "controllers, TV switch boxes, power adaptors, etc." from the Referral Agents--which is another reason you'll want to see the directory of agencies in Antic next month.

As for Atari Service Contract . . . the corporation won't let any new ones be sold. But they'll honor the contracts currently in effect, according to the statement by Jere Bernardoni, U.S. Consumer Product Service Manager. However, for a Service Contract repair you must mail the defective item to:

Atari Corp.
Consumer Product Service
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088

Our guess is that most of these Tramiel-style contract repairs will actually turn out to be exchanges for new equipment--just like the warranty repairs.

USERS GROUP OFFICERS ONLY

Calling all Users Group Officers! Find out how your group can get a FREE listing in the pages of Antic Magazine--plus many other special and exclusive users group benefits. Write today to:

Antic Worldwide Users Network
Antic Magazine
524 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

James Capparell
Publisher

VIDEO CHRISTMAS CARD

As a special holiday bonus from ANTIC Magazine + Disk, we present Ed Brown's Christmas card. It will play a soundtrack of "Ave Maria" while it displays an elegant drawing. (The listing was too long to print for typing.) Disk subscribers, RUN "D:AVEMARIA.BAS".