Technology Vault - NewsBytes
Wednesday 8 October, 2003
Catalyst 3.8 Software Suite and Interview with Terry Makedon and Andrew Dodd (Part 2) by @ 7:21 pm
The Multi-media centre has been upgraded to version 8.7. The 'Lunchpad,' which is a covenant bar where you can select the player you wish to use, is simple and easy to use. Included in the Multi Media Centre package is an outstanding DVD player, which I have got to say, produces some of the best quality DVD playback I've ever seen. You also get a Video CD player, CD Player and File Player.
Catalyst 3.8 DVD Player
You can select the look of each player although I'm not totally in love with any particular style that comes ready installed. If I had to choose, the default player is probably the best looking. I would have preferred the classic version to have square buttons but this is probably due to me being an old funny duddy who likes a DVD player to look like a DVD player and not some kind of UFO.
Unfortunately, I was unable to test out some of the new TV features that Terry explained about, as I don't have an All in Wonder card. (You never know, maybe Terry can fix this for me one day;-) He told me about the programme guide where you can select programs to record. EAZYLOOK lets European users gain integrated control and on screen display of Teletext information. The new Remote Control has buttons you can use to select pages, scan and even save pages as a bitmap image.
A feature called FastTVTV lets you browse online listings regional broadcasters and schedule recording events.
The File Player is fun. This lets you create slide shows while you play your favourite mp3s.
For users with an All in Wonder 9600 pro also get a FM Player. This can also double up as an alarm clock, as the player has an alarm and sleep function.
Terry and Andrew where pleased to point out that the drivers now contain a unified Linux driver. They recognise the increase in popularity of Linux as a computing environment and feel that their products should support it.
Another useful addition is an ATI uninstaller. This will completely remove any existence of anything ATI from your computer. I strongly recommend you use it before installing Catalyst 3.8. I found some errors pop up in my event log when installing the new software suite without using it. The uninstaller was my only area for complaint though. I explained to Terry that it doesn’t inform you what you are uninstalling prior to hitting the ‘yes’ button. It had removed every ATI demo I had installed on my system (apart from the ATI treasure chest demo for some strange reason). He said this was a very valid point and this would be fixed in a future release.
It wasn't all work, Terry, Andrew and I chatted for around 3/4 of an hour in all. Terry commented about my enjoyment of the demo scene. I explained that I have around 350 demoscene demos and everytime he brought a new driver version out, I would test each demo. I explained that I keep a folder called 'dead demos'. He remembered fixing a demo called Miracle for me, which had lost a shadow a few versions ago. I explained that I had one demo in my dead demo folder called 'Legomania' by Doomsday, which made his VPU come into play. I've given him a link to the demo and he's interested in looking at why it won't run correctly. I say this man enjoys a challenge!
I’m not going to chunter on about what I think of the display drivers performance, that’s not what this article is about. I will say that I have run my usual array of benchmarks and demos and all seems up to the usual high standard we’ve come to expect. The only comment I will make is that I was pleased to see Terry has got OpenGL programs now run correctly. A glitch in the previous drivers made OpenGL games and demos look as though they were rendered in 16bit instead of 32bit.
Terry Makedon explained that he had just come from a press tour of San Francisco and he had used one of my quotes from a previous news report that I had made about Catalyst 3.4. He sent me a copy of the Powerpoint presentation with the slide included.
Slide from ATI presentation
Fame at last!
Well, maybe Terry and Andrew might like to quote me again when they do their next presentation, because the only way I can describe Catalyst 3.8 is awesome! A tremendous amount of work has gone into this package. I’ve never had so much value from a graphics card. Catalyst 3.8 is a top quality, state of the art suite of programs that has enriched my computing experience beyond recognition. Each part of the suite works flawlessly with the other components. I only wish I was able to see some of the stunning TV features Terry and Andrew spoke about.
It just leaves me to thanks both Terry and Andrew for spending so much time with me. It has been a truly memorable experience for me, something I will treasure for many years to come. I’ve found this section of the news article one the hardest to write, lets face it, Terry and Andrew have transformed ATI, they have become legends in our own time. I am totally in awe of their combined knowledge. They both must be among the top earners on the planet (or ought to be) and yet at the end of the day, they are two of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. Both are totally relaxed and down to earth. When Terry sent me his PowerPoint presentation, only to find that I didn’t have PowerPoint on my system (OK, when have I ever had to do a PowerPoint presentation), no problem, Terry said, “I’ll convert it to pdf file and email it to you”. Talk about embarrassing;-)
You’ll all probably read about Catalyst 3.8 on 100s of other graphics related websites, I’ve purposely not copied out the official press release word for word, I’m sure you would much prefer to hear it as it is. Catalyst 3.8 is simply awesome!
CLICK HERE to download Catalyst 3.8 Software Suite
To see some stills from Terry Makedon's Powerpoint presentation you can download the slides in pdf format (for a limited period only) CLICK HERE
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