33 replies to this topic

[Willsy]

TurboForth V1.0 will be released on Monday the 18th April 2011.

TurboForth Software:
It will be available in Emulator Format, at turboforth.net for the following emulators:

• Classic99
  
• MESS
  
• Win994A
  
• TI994W

It will also be available as a 16K plug in cartridge for TI-99/4As.

For USA, please contact Bob Carmany (rmcarmany at aol.com) for details of how to obtain a cartridge.

For Europe, please contact myself.

Using TurboForth Book:
The book is still in development, but progressing nicely. Now I that the code-base has matured and is stable, I can vastly accelerate the book. I will be working on the book as a top priority over the next few weeks. I would like to have the book available on Lulu.com within the next 3 to 4 weeks. It will take longer to appear on Amazon, as it takes quite a while to get an ISBN number. However, theoretically, once the ISBN is assigned, you should be able to walk into any book shop in the world and order a copy. I, of course, will be trying exactly that

Website:
Work will start on http://turboforth.net as soon as the book is done. The book is now the number 1 priority. However, the download page on turboforth.net will go live on Monday.

YouTube Videos: Tutorials/How To's
Over the coming months I'll be adding many videos to YouTube (in addition to the ones already there) on how to use TurboForth. These videos will also be linked on TurboForth.net. You are of course welcome to produce your own videos. The more the merrier. Please go for it! Let's spread the word people!

General:
TurboForth has taken the last two years of my life. Many parts of TurboForth have been re-written, sometimes more than twice! The result is a very fast, stable, Forth programming environment that runs on real hardware. That was very important to me. It must run on real hardware.

We now have a fast programming environment for our beloved TIs in the form of a simple cartridge, like Extended Basic or EA. At start-up, nearly all of the 32K is available to you for your programs. SAMS memory support will be added in the very near future, in the form of a loadable library (downloadable from turboforth.net in either source code format or in disk (TI-FILES) format.

I hope the TI community will take a serious look at TF, and take it to their hearts. It's been a long slog writing it. I would be delighted if the community uses it and enjoys it. I will certainly do all I can to help and support all TF users. Please use the mailing list to post any questions. I also hang out at Atariage quite a bit.

Finally, please spread the word! Please feel free to re-post this on any retro websites etc. Let's see if we can get a nice 4A buzz going!

[Vorticon]

Chapeau bas mon vieux! This is an outstanding achievement that will open new programming opportunities for our TI and will likely relegate XB and c99 to the dustbin of memory...
I will be contacting Bob ASAP and put an order for a cart.

[ti99userclub]

i was waiting so much for this news!!! ... i will try to learn this language
and i'd like a lot to have a couple of cartridge

Thankyou

[RXB]

Pretty exiting I used to be a Forth nut. Exited to test it out.

[rocky007]

need a try for sure thanks !

[Opry99er]

I'll be downloading this immediately... What do I need to do to get a cart, Willsy!?

[sometimes99er]

Opry99er, on Sat Jul 30, 2011 9:35 PM, said:

I'll be downloading this immediately... What do I need to do to get a cart, Willsy!?

It's built in to Classic99, newer releases.

PS. So happy to see you, Owen.

Edited by sometimes99er, Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:02 AM.

[OLD CS1]

When will we be able to purchase cartridges?

EDIT: okay, I gotta email rmcarmany... no online store? Bummer

[TEXAS_JOE]

Wow! I just used some examples of source code on here, pasted it into TurboForth under Classic, and all I can say is, it's gonna take me a while to learn Forth but that's what I'm doing pretty soon now.

[Willsy]

A book, teaching all about Turboforth is in development. I must admit I got distracted and let it languish, but I've started work on it again this week. I'm now up to 160 pages!

[matthew180]

I would like to make a request for the upcoming new version. If the expansion unit is not found, display a message on the screen that says TF requires expansion, and let the user reset the console with FCTN-QUIT. This will greatly help dumb-asses like me remember that they need the expansion unit or TF won't work. I spent at least an hour last night messing with my console, cartridges, burning EPROMs, cleaning connectors, before it dawned on me that the console I was using was stock... DOH! Amazing how it all started to work once I plugged in the CF7.

[OLD CS1]

Speaking of, I emailed Carmany about a cart and never got a response

[matthew180]

You "Forthies" might like this. :-)

http://www.forthos.org/

[Willsy]

matthew180, on Thu Sep 8, 2011 6:44 AM, said:

You "Forthies" might like this. :-)

http://www.forthos.org/

Yeah! I actually managed to run it in a VM. It runs and I can execute simple code on it. Can't get it to do much else though

[GroovyBee]

Not TI related but you might be interested in Fignition :-

http://sites.google....y8dev/fignition

Its a DIY, 8 bit computer running FORTH.

[Opry99er]

Took a good long look at FIGnition... Very cool item there, my friends... =) I'd love to build one and learn to program with it--- but first, turboForth.

: TFTEST PAGE CR CR CR ." WANNA LEARN FORTH! " ;

Itchin for it again...

[Willsy]

TF V1.1 will be out soon - much more stable (File IO was a bit dodgy and some other silly bugs), some new words added, and a couple taken away. Also has an optional integrated assembler plus an optional 32-bit math library as loadable add-ons.

Struggling with floored integer division at the moment, then it's ready!

All being well, it will be released at the Chicago faire, which I'm planning to attend, work etc permitting.

[Opry99er]

Thats exciting stuff, Willsy... thanks for the updates

[idflyfish]

Excellent...will carts be available?

[OLD CS1]

Same question from me -- I would like a cartridge. I am trying to justify the expense of going -- only $350 for the flight there and back, and I think I have a place to stay to avoid paying for a hotel, but I would have to rent a car and drive two hours. Ugh!

[Willsy]

Yep. Carts will be available. Folk will have the following options:

• Present V1.0 Cart Owners:
  
  • Turn up in Chicago on the day and Bob Carmany and I will exchange your V1.0 EPROM for a V1.1 EPROM, free of charge
    
  • Return your V1.0 cart or EPROM to either Bob (USA) or myself (Europe) and we'll send you a V1.1 EPROM for just the cost of the return postage.
• Peeps who don't currently own a cart:
  
  • Purchase one from Bob or myself - we should have some available in Chicago
    
  • Download the EPROM images and make your own cart (I believe a lot of people have done this - I reckon there's well over 100 users of TF now; most users being 'on the metal' rather than emulation users. Interesting).

[idflyfish]

I won't be in Chicago but I'd love to get my hands on a cart. It sounds like Bob is the US distributor, how should I contact him?

[Willsy]

See the first post in this thread

[idflyfish]

DOH!

Thanks

[OLD CS1]

idflyfish, on Mon Oct 3, 2011 10:26 AM, said:

DOH!

Thanks

I would love to know if you get an answer from him, as I have not.