07/08/94
The Acorn PC Emulator package provides an  emulation of a 4.77MHz 8088 based
IBM PC. We have often received requests for information concerning the
programs available that will run under the PC Emulator. Some readers may
remember that we requested your help in producing a compatibility list based
on your experiences with the PC Emulator. However, we now are able to supply
a comprehensive list of software ( including in the majority of cases
version numbers) that works under the PC Emulator by kind permission  of
John Eden and Archive magazine. The list can be obtained either from SID or
by sending an A4 SEA to Acorn's Customer Services department.

Also on the subject of the PC Emulator, users new to the MS DOS environment
may want to make a working backup of their MS DOS disc before proceeding
further. This is easily done once the machine is running under the PC
Emulator. With your MS DOS disc in drive 0 type the command 'diskcopy A: B:'
followed by return. MS DOS will pretend that your computer has two floppy
drives if this is not the case, and keep track of the discs for you. The
computer will prompt you for the source disc which is already in the drive
so just hit the space bar. When you are prompted for the target disc you are
allowed to use a previously unformatted disc which will be formatted whilst
copying.

Customer Services still receives a number of enquiries from Model B owners
who are having problems running a particular piece of software. In the
majority of cases the problem is caused by old versions of either the BASIC
chip or the Operating System chip being fitted. We would recommend that
users check that they are using the latest versions. The version of BASIC
can be found by typing REPORT as soon as the BBC is switched on. The
computer will report a Copyright message and date. If the BBC reports a date
of 1981 then the computer is fitted with BASIC I and if it report 1982 it is
fitted with BASIC II. To find out the version of the Operating System you
should type *FX0. The BBC will report 1.20 if you have the latest version.
BASIC II and OS 1.20 can both be purchased from your local Acorn
Authorised Dealer.

We often receive questions from users of Archimedes 310 and 440 machines who
are experiencing difficulties in using the Intergrex 132 colour printer. The
symptoms are typically lost lines and spurious characters. This problem will
affect 310's whose serial number is less than 27 AKB15-10017351 and 440's
with serial numbers less than 27 AKB20-10002253. Any approved Acorn Service
center or Acorn Authorised Dealer can perform a simple modification to cure
the problem. The modification is paid for by Acorn Computers.