Re: RAM Applesoft found!

["Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com>]

Linards Ticmanis wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've finally managed to locate a copy of RAM Applesoft. This is the 
> first available version of Applesoft, intended to be loaded from tape or 
> disk into the RAM (mainboard RAM, not language card) of an Integer BASIC 
> equipped machine. The copy I got came on a tape together with a demo 
> program. Playing it back from a tape recorder into the Apple didn't work 
> (probably the tape was too old and/or modern tape decks do stuff to the 
> signal that the Apple doesn't like), but some messing with a commodore 
> datasette, Markus Brenner's "mtap" program, a bit of cleaning, and a 
> little conversion I wrote myself produced a working WAV file that the 
> Apple accepted as a valid tape.

Very likely a head alignment problem in your recorder...

> If you're interested I can send this to you as a zipped disk image. Just 
> drop me a mail.

Done!

> By the way... I noted that Applesoft is already mentioned in the "Red 
> Book", the first Apple II manual that can be called a manual. So it must 
> be a really early product. Did Apple themselves arrange for its 
> publication, or was it launched by Microsoft? I wonder where, when and 
> by whom was the decision taken to drop Integer BASIC in favor of the 
> Microsoft code base?

It was commissioned by Apple from Microsoft.  Apple recognized the need
for a floating-point BASIC that was more "standard" then Integer, and,
in the process, wanted to add support for graphics.

-michael

Music synthesis for 8-bit Apple II's!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

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