REVIEW: AMINET 8 CD-ROM

by: Jason Compton


The Aminet series. You know it, if you've ever used one you probably haven't been disappointed, and it's a lot faster to use than even a 28.8k modem. Aminet has long been the leader in new, freely redistributable Amiga software and the Aminet CD series, by going quarterly and then bimonthly, has lead the way for CD-ROM shoppers looking for the newest software. Those with net access don't always want to run up their phone bills or hog connect time with FTPs to the Aminet network, and those without FTP access can get the latest several hundred megs of Amiga software on CD-ROM for a pretty low price.

No major surprises appear in this edition, although a registered version of the very flexible mod player DeliTracker has been licensed for inclusion with the CD. Being a long standing fan of Bryan Ford's Multiplayer, Delitracker caught me off guard and is considerably more complex, with some options and features which are not completely intuitive...so you'll want to read the docs.

The familiar AmigaGuide interface is back. (I think I keep saying that every time I review an Aminet CD.) So are the prefs and search tools, including one feature I've never quite taken note of before: the ability to search ALL of the CDs (in other words, the entire Aminet) for the string you're interested in, which generates an index-style report with a column telling you which CD to check. Nice.

The Aminet 8 theme is mods, with some 2,000 or so on the CD. The index allows you to access them either by name or by category with the 'shuffle' option (which is handy if you're lazy or bored.) One drawback is that if the mod is actually an .lha'ed pack of mods, it will only play the first mod of the pack. Perhaps in the future, this will be corrected...

Aminet continues to deliver prompt access to the latest in Amiga software, and the CDs are coming out so fast that Aminet 8 (October 95) is already old news, Aminet 9 has been released. The CDs run roughly US$20 but are often discounted on one-year subscriptions.

Aside from being an Aminet mirror yourself or having an extremely fast link with Aminet mounted as a device on a 24 hour basis, there isn't a more effective or convenient way of bringing the collected fruits of the Amiga share/freeware community to your home than with these CDs. One of these days there may be one that's a waste, but that hasn't happened yet.

Schatztruhe


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