The Grand Old Lazarus Survey 10/03/98

Before we start - a reminder. We've plowed through 1,319 of these things and have rated everything with percentages based on YOUR responses. We haven't fixed it or anything. No, really. We haven't.

On the whole, you were quite complimentary. But first, we asked you when you had discovered Lazarus. We did that like this:

1. When did you discover Lazarus?

More than three months ago [80%]
Between one and three months ago [15%]
Less than one month ago [4%]
Today [1%]

So the vast majority of you are old hands. Thanks for sticking with us through difficult times (etc.) From this we learn that we are consistently popular and that we have maintained your interest so far.

2. Do you have problems accessing Lazarus when it is available?

No, it always works perfectly [40%]
No, not normally [27%]
Yes, sometimes [10%]
Yes, regularly [23%]

We're aware of the problems you have. Sometimes we're simply unavailable because the server has had enough. Sometimes, our host's ISP has pulled the plug. But in a lot of instances, you - the users - have forgotten to refresh your browser or remove your proxy settings. You oafs, eh?

3. How often do you visit Lazarus?

Every day [26%]
More than once a week [60%]
Less than once a week [4%]
Less than once a month [10%]

Now, this surprised us. A whopping quarter of you pay us a regular, daily visit. Well, thanks. But why? Let's find out, shall we.

4. What is your main purpose for visiting Lazarus?

To Download Amiga software [35%]
To read the news and see what's new [42%]
To read Lazarus The Magazine [20%]
Other, Please State: [3%]

Astounding. According to YOU, more of YOU come to read the news and see what's new, rather than bother sticking around waiting for downloads. That's just fine, but our logs suggest otherwise! Interestingly, you really quite enjoy reading the guff we type. Good. We'll type more of it in future, then.

Some of your "other" comments included the flippant, "to see if you're still alive" and the terrifying, "to report you to ("Inspector Policeman" - Ed.)" Tch.

5. We need to know if you find Lazarus easy to read. Check the statement you agree with.

I understand every word of it and laugh at all the secret jokes [77%]
I understand it but find it a bit heavy going [11%]
I don't understand it very well, but I get by [10%]
I have difficulty reading Lazarus [2%]

Those that answered that they have difficulty are probably Mac owners. Our "white text on a white background" approach was universally unpopular with both Mac and Amiga owners. We're glad most of you are able to penetrate the secret irony with your clever eyes, though.

6. Please award marks between 0 (not interested) and 5 (very interested) for the following parts of Lazarus.

The News [5 - 74%]
Essentials [4 - 90%]
The Games Domain [5 - 95%]
Demo Zone [3 - 64%]
Utilities [3 - 55%]
Sonix [4 - 71%]
Docs [5 - 81%]
The Connection Section [3 - 65%]
Compatibility Pages [4 - 71%]

Without a shadow of a doubt, our most popular section is the games domain - as I type, the entire Lazarus team is still working on ensuring that everything in the Games archive is of merchandisable quality. You like back-up information too, the compatibility and docs section are also very popular indeed. We'll be working on more game-related features in the future. Look out for some new reviews soon.

7. Which other sections would you like to see introduced?

A section dedicated to Amiga coding/programming [19%]
Playing guides and solutions for games [60%]
Help & Tips for using UAE and Fellow [85%]
More current Amiga content and news [74%]
Recent AGA-only games and programs for download [41%]
Interviews with UAE authors and/or developers [15%]
Other

Some of you are still at a loss when it comes to using Fellow and UAE, it would seem. We've enlisted the help of various experts to present fresh, entertaining and useful articles for those who are new to UAE - including an illustrated walk-through. However, we don't ever intend to dedicate time and effort to re-inventing the wheel, ie. don't expect articles on how to use the Amiga itself. For that would be silly.

Once again, Games back-up material is requested. Look out for "Total Control", our new playing tips/hints/guides section coming in the next update of Lazarus.

Current Amiga content? We've thought carefully on how best to approach this. Lazarus has always represented what was truly great about the Amiga. In future, we'll be looking at what IS truly great about the Amiga, too. (Clever wording, I know. Cheers.)

In the "other" column, you mostly wrote re-jigged sentences which more or less described things we'd already suggested. However, a couple of useful suggestions were made. "You should make an encyclopedia of every Amiga game," one of you said. Like we have all the time in the world, or something. Still, you never know your luck.

8. On the whole, would you say that Lazarus is:

Very user-friendly [95%]
Not very user-friendly [5%]

Phew. Credit to our graphics artist and HTML designer, then. (Cheers, Trev'.)
9. Please check the following presentation elements you'd really like to see introduced on Lazarus:

Frames for easier navigation of the site [46%]
Search engines for the contents of the archive [89%]
Files sorted by year of release [41%]
Files sorted by genre [41%]
Files sorted by name [64%]
Streaming Amiga music in Real Audio [14%]
Less or smaller graphics, but more text [49%]
More text but less graphics [27%] (see below)
An option to view text or graphics version of the site [19%]

Look! A search engine! Thy will be done. We're steering clear of frames, though (look at the answer in the next section.) We'll be listing games by NAME and introducing more features. More text, you see. Since few of you are bothered about listening to Amiga music on-line, we'll scrap our CAREFULLY LAID PLANS FOR A MOD JUKEBOX, then. And, hang on, how come none of you pedantically pointed out the fact that "Less or smaller graphics, but more text" and "More text but less graphics" are essentially THE SAME THING?

10. Please check the following presentation elements you'd hate to see introduced on Lazarus:

Frames for easier navigation of the site [53%]
Search engines for the contents of the archive [4%]
Files sorted by year of release [30%]
Files sorted by genre [19%]
Files sorted by name [4%]
Streaming Amiga music in Real Audio [40%]
Less or smaller graphics, but more text [31%]
More text but less graphics [59%]
An option to view text or graphics version of the site [10%]

You clearly couldn't care less.

11. Which other UAE-related sites do you regularly visit?

Classics for UAE [89%]
The UAE Discussion Board [47%]
Emu News Service [25%]
EmuXpress [10%]
Dave's Videogame Classics [14%]
Other

Classics for UAE - your favourite! And rightfully so. Alfie has dedicated long hours to his site. Just look at all those lovely features. We think - but aren't sure - that CFU celebrates its first birthday soon. We'll be at Alfie's party and presenting him with a cake of some sort. In the "other" category, the deceased "Total Replay" scored the highest with a whopping 34%.

12. Have you ever used our Connections Section to find other sites?

Yes [70%] and if so, is it one of those listed in Q11? Yes [59%] No [41%]
No [30%]

We thought our Connections Section was rather useful. Perhaps we should look more closely at offering a wider scope of sites for you to visit. With this in mind, we're searching for homepages of celebrated Amiga people - if you know of any, let us know. About. Them. Thanks.

13. Look at the graphics currently used on the site, and then tick the statement you agree with.

The graphics are stylish and help to enhance the site [48%]
The graphics are fine and are unobtrusive [37%]
I disklike graphics on sites and never wait for them to load [9%]
I disklike the graphics on Lazarus and would prefer they were... [6%]

Hmmmmm, eh? We're working on the graphics and design. However, some of you expressed your wish to see the return of the "Classic Lazarus" (Thanks, George.) We may re-introduce some of the devices we were previously using.

14. Discounting the server problems, if you are a long-time Lazarus visitor, would you say that:

The site has steadily improved [83%]
The site has remained the same [10%]
The site has declined [7%]

We're glad you agree that the site has improved. Our server problems notwithstanding, we've worked dashed hard to ensure that we're updated regularly. Even though each update might not consist of "7,000 new games added!", we try to ensure that something has changed each time you visit Lazarus.

15. Please use the space below to make any other comments/suggestions for the Lazarus webmasters.

You're a pretty shy bunch, really. There were plenty of "Hi guys, just to say you're doing a great job - please continue!", "Thanks for all your work you're really great", "Now I can relive all my favourite old time Amiga memories once more" and "Before Lazarus there was , what? I can't remember!" type comments. Thanks for your praise. We've also followed up your kind offers of work contributions.

Part 2 - You And UAE

16. What machine(s) do you own?

Pentium Class Machine [81%]
Pentium II Class Machine [4%]
486 or lower [0% (!)]
Macintosh, state model [13%]
Amiga, state model [Mostly expanded A1200 owners - 29%]
Other, state which

So there ARE some Amiga owners visiting Lazarus, although most of you seem to have A1200's as second machines. A500s figured, too - at 4%. Since the bulk of you are PXXX owners, we'll be primarily covering the Windows 95 versions of UAE and Fellow for DOS in future. That said, we have a Mac UAE article planned and news of future Amiga developments.

17. If you don't already own an Amiga, did you used to own one? Which model? When did you stop using it?

Nearly all of you owned an Amiga at some point - 96% in fact. This is good news. However, most of you stopped using it in around 1993 - long determined as the "cut-off" point of Lazarus itself. Depressingly, the reason most of you stopped using your Amigas: they broke. It's almost as if every Amiga had a bomb inside set to go off in 1993. Or something.

18. Which port of UAE do you use?

I use UAE for Windows 95/NT [84%]
I use UAE for DOS [51%]
I use UAE for Unix/Linux [39%]
I use UAE for MacOS [13%]
I use UAE for BeOS [0%]
I use UAE for SunOS [2%]
I use UAE for another platform, state which

A handful of Amiga UAE users (the fools) and couple a of Acorn RiscOS users, too. WinUAE grabs the lion's share, though we forgot to ask whether that's Brian's Picasso 96 WinUAE or Mathias' ne'er-gets-updated WinUAE Vanilla - The Classic Flavor.

19. Please check the 3 most applicable reasons for your using UAE:

Playing classic Amiga games [91%]
Running Amiga applications and utilities [78%]
Using your own-written programs [40%]
For fun, ie. nostalgia [97%]
As a substitute for a real Amiga; ie. general purpose use [33%]
Conversion between Amiga and PC file-formats [41%]

There're those damned games, again. You old games players, you. Still, that suits us fine. But don't you all play these new-fangled PC and console games, too? We forgot to ask you about that. Tsk.

20. Have you used Fellow?

Yes [71%]
No [29%]

Good.

21. Which of these statements do you agree with?

I prefer UAE to Fellow [16%]
I prefer Fellow to UAE [36%]
I use both, but for different things [48%]

You're a sensible bunch - this was the answer we were hoping for. Lazarus' official stance is that Fellow serves best as a games/demo runner. UAE, on the other hand, will eventually be stable enough to perform as a real, replacement Amiga. Whether it will ever be fast enough is another thing entirely.

22. Describe your emulated Amiga set-up you use most often. State Kickstart/Workbench version used.

We'll dispense with all of the Kickstart 1.3 and "don't understand" repsonses and report the following:

Most used IS! Kickstart: 3.1
Most used IS! Workbench: 3.1 (with Picasso96, apparently)
Top 3 additional utilities: MUI, Magic Workbench (Hnngh!), MultiCX

23. Have you bought Cloanto's Amiga Forever?

Yes [19%]
No, and don't intend to. [17%]
No, but I intend to in the future. [30%]
I don't know what "Amiga Forever" is! [34%]

Since Amiga Forever (the full retail package) is still not currently available, we were quite surprised that 19% of you claim to have already purchased the preview edition (that's around 200 of you). We intend to review it soon (if Cloanto ever get around to sending us a review copy).

Part 3 - About You

24. Are you:

A man [96%]
A woman [4%]

You're being funny, right?

25. How old are you?

We hold our hands up and admit that we couldn't be bothered to work out an average age. Double figures with a "2" at the front regularly flashed past, so, hmm, 25, then.

26. Where do you live?

Europe, it seems. 75% of you, anyway. Another 19% in the States and the rest of you couldn't be bothered to say.

So that's it?

Yes. That is all. It might not seem like much, but from it, we've determined the following:

LAZARUS IS...

The Real Amiga (1986-1993)
Games Orientated
Bulging with Features
Read mostly by Europeans
Relied upon daily by hundreds of people
One of your most visited sites
Mostly popular with younger men
Your favourite resource for Amiga Emulation news
Heading in the right direction

LAZARUS IS NOT...

About to support Frames
Here for Amiga-owning pirates
Going to die!

So, you see, it was worth it after all. The UAE and Fellow developers might find some of these answers useful, too. Lazarus Ops