RAMDOS is looked upon as the best non-ROM based extended formatting routine for 3.5/5.25" drives commercially available. Even from the ROM based programs, ROMDOS (the same as RAMDOS but on ROM) is widely recognised as the one to have. Recently many new extended formatting routines have become widely available, perhaps the most well-known being MS800, but these are still expensive compared to public domain programs. Are they worth it? The short answer is maybe! You see RAMDOS will allow up to 800K under both CP/M and AMSDOS, MS800 will allow the same, but only with a side switch fitted. XFORM, the best of the PD utilities, allows up to 800K in CP/M, 400K in AMSDOS, without a side switch, or up to 800K in both CP/M and AMSDOS with a side switch fitted. In comparison, RAMDOS is the best, but XFORM isn't far off MS800 if you have a side switch (which costs about 50p to make and requires no soldering). CPC ATTACK |
