The latest pictures which were released to Amiga Format magazine by Amiga Inc. are kinda cool in this regard. Very techy looking, though I shudder to make comparisons between the Amiga designs and the iMac (can you say E-Power, kidz?).
Among the sketches are a number of palmtop/tablet device designs. They even go into some laptop-like systems, "kitchen countertop" systems, and definitely gaming systems.
Still. Sketches are one things. I need to see it to believe it.
Overheard some developers talking about all of this yesterday. They were making distinctions between the use of the Linux Kernel in a future AmigaOE, and the use of the Linux MicroKernel. I've never splitexistential hairs like that before (which is why I was basically eavesdropping instead of participating). Goofy?
Everything I've read thus far points to support for legacy apps ("classic Amiga") being provided through software emulation like UAE. Yup. The Amiga emulates an Amiga to get the job done.
The beta release of QNX/Amiga Operating Environment was scheduled to be on x86-based developer machines, as these were cheap and easily available. From there, the relevant software could easily be ported over to the new hardware's spec.
Of course, after seeing this announcement yesterday, anything is possible. I'm sure Amiga Inc's other "close development partners" are shaking in their shoes. Who'll be next to get the axe?
"July 9, 1999 - San Diego, California. Amiga has selected Linux as the OS kernel for the new Amiga Operating Environment that is scheduled for release later this year. Amiga is selecting Linux after several months of evaluating the technical progress of the OS and the tremendous industry support that Linux has gained."
Commands like "DIR" and "CD" were built into the Kickstart in later releases of the OS. Good thing to, for those pesky times I decide I need to boot without a startup-sequence and haven't assigned the command directories right away.:^)
As for Lemmings, well, the guys at Psygnosis programmed it as an Amiga game from the outset, so I'm not surprised that it was by far the best implementation of Lemmings anyone can find.
They better not botch the beautiful balance they've struck between GUI and CLI. That would truly piss me off.
My my my. My baby is still sitting here, next to my relatively brand-spanking-new Linux box. In fact, that's what I'm typing on right now! It amazes me that a system whose company dried up and vanished so many years ago is still able to stir up such strong emotions. I guess that's why I could never truly bring myself to ever leave the platform. I just hope Amiga Inc. can capitalize on such nostalgia with their marketing instead of the previous tactic of relying solely on those of us who have stuck-it-out to fuel their platform. I just hope the new OS... oh, sorry, Amiga Operating Environment v5.0... manages to retain some of the nice modular features of the current OS. Would keep me happy.
The New AmigaSoft Operating Environment is being designed around the QNX Neutrino kernel. POSIX compliance and the like are being factored into the equation, so porting stuff back and forth between Linux and AmigaSoft shouldn't be a big deal. As for hardware dedication, AmigaSoft is apparently scheduled to be hardware independent in its implementation, so I don't think that'll work.
All in all, it's nice to see *SOMETHING* emerge from the vacuum of secrets that has been the current Amiga.
I really get annoyed at links like this one where you are expected to fill out umpteen registation forms in order to get at the article. MIRROR IT OR STOP IT!
I don't know about that. Frankly, I'm happy to see ANY decent mention of the Amiga in the mainstream digital press. The more coverage the better, IMNSHO.
I wouldn ever have tripped across the article if it wasn't for my incessant monitoring of Slashdot goodies...
I used to have A600?? Really??
on
Amiga Comeback?
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The A600 was a low end, barely expandable, downsized piece of shit. If it wasn't for it's applications in things like kiosks and such, I wouldn't be able to think of a concrete reason why anyone would want to purchase such a hideous bastardization of am Amiga.
Of course it was cheap. That was a big factor in its favour...
An stock A4K doesn't cost $4000. That's an insane price.
Then again, realize that Amiga prices are primarily inflated because of a lack of market share. Take the tech in an Amiga box and apply the same mass-marketing economics to it as you would to standard PC components, and it would cost a bungload less. That's the way it was back when there was still a company pumping out boxes.
As for low cost, nobody said you needed an Amiga4000 to do all that stuff. Ever heard of an Amiga1200? Low cost, low profile, damned powerful.
The AmigaOS going to be built in layers around the QNX neutrino. That's QNX's contribution. The rest of the OS is probably going to be handled by Amiga Inc. and coders like Haage & Partner.
For the umpteenth time... they're only using Intel chips for their development system. The final "next-generation" (for lack of a better term) Amigas will be out there with a yet-to-be-announced processor. It ain't gonna be no Intel, that's fersure.
(Make all the grammatical comments you want. I wrote that last sentence like that on purpose. If you want to dock marks for it, take it up with my high school English teacher.)
Intel platforms are cheap to come by, and work well with off the shelf parts. Nice for development. Hell... the original Amiga architechture (hard & soft) was developed on Sun Workstations way back when...
Jim Collas and the new Amiga, Inc
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Amiga Comeback?
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· Score: 1
I don't know. It certainly sounds like a lot of excellent news coming down the pipe from Amiga Inc., but it's very true... we've heard good news before. I'm a crazed fanatical Amigahead, and have been for years. But through the last few years, I've learned to be very cautious when lending any optimism to these press releases.
Yes, I WILL believe it when I see it, but until then I think it's more pipe dreams and vapourware. Amiga Inc. is heading in the right direction, they just desperately need to pick up speed and start getting somewhere. The market... or what shreds are left of it... have seen too much shit to keep sucking back on empty promises.
Amiga News is a handy place to get the latest scoop on what's going down in the Amiga market... though Slashdot these days is starting to become a close second or third!:^)
Amigas & Newtek - The PC Toaster
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Amiga Comeback?
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· Score: 1
It's very true. The PC and the "Toaster Box" were linked to one another. The software on the PC was basically just a user-interface for the Amiga2000/Toaster product sitting next to the PC box. The "PC Toaster" hardware was just a link between the devices. The PC didn't really do much real work, short of perhaps some fun with Lightwave here and there. All the muscle was next door!
Check out the online prices at National Amiga A HREF="http://www.nationalamiga.com/">http://www. nationalamiga.com/. They're one of the largest, and few remaining, authorized Amiga retailers around... and one of the few I trust. They also specialize in Video Toaster Flyer systems, if you're curious.
The new AmigaOS is being developed on x86 machines (they're cheap), but the "Next Generation" Amigas will be running on a yet-to-be-announced chip. No word on custom chipsets, though the current market as it is seems to be encouraging development of platform-independent operating systems. I'm personally hoping Amiga will be able to fall into this stream fairly comfortably... but first I just want to see them do SOMETHING.
Bad hardware design --> it was considered revolutionary in its time. Crappy unstable OS --> more stable than anything M$ has going. Amiga500 --> stripped down bargain version of the A2000. Amiga is dead --> mine is fine Obsolete --> mine is fine WinNT --> bahahaha Intel --> bahahaha
There's talk about integrating the TCP/IP stack, but not of integrating a browser directly into the OS. As for an OS tax, you can currently get Amigas without the OS without a problem. The Kickstart chip is required to get things up and running (chip-based segment of AmigaOS), but you can always jump right into Linux with no problems at all. In fact, the A3000UX came out with Unix right out of the box.
x86 is the architechture being used for the development box on which AmigaOS v4 is being constructed. That's just because the parts are cheap and readily available. The release box for the public, running OSv5 (basically OS4release vs OS4developer, above), will be based on a chip yet-to-be-announced... though the minimum criteria for the chip have been publically available, and are quite impressive.
You get the impression from all of this, though, that Amiga Inc. is quite staunch in it's stance that Intel's x86 architecture, much like the 68k, is passe.
I've been an Amiga4000 owner for years, and I still prefer my 'mig as my primary system. As far as I'm concerned, I'd far rather use an Amiga to any of the "high powered" "top of the line" PCs I see everywhere else. Granted, a stock Amiga doesn't compare in terms of sheer hardware muscle to current machines, but realize that they haven't been updated since Commodore took its financial nose dive so many years ago. The fact that it's still a viable platform without a major central hardware upgrade, or a company for that matter, is itself pretty impressive.
To give you an idea, my A4000 is running off a CyberStormPPC processor card, with 68060@50Mhz/PPC604e@200Mhz dual processing... as well as UWSCSI support to my 9gigs of HD space and my 36X CDROM drive (I tore out the IDE drives, as the on-board controller is slow and horribly out of date). Got something just under 128megs of RAM, though the only time I ever need that much is when I'm running an emulator. Might not seem like much from a PC perspective, but running a compact and efficient OS like AmigaOS, it's pretty blazing fast.
I have a second SCSI card dedicated to my flatbed scanner, as well as perks like multiple monitors and an IV24 video processing card (titling, genlock, balancing, screengrabber). Not bad for a dead computer system, eh? 2gig set aside for my Mac emulator, and 2gig currently lying in wait of Linux... which I'll happily install the SECOND someone (Jes?) finishes the driver for my specific UWSCSI card.
There are plans in the works to bring Amigas to a fully PPC platform, with the 68K code run entirely in emulation. Developers are working on dual-G3 boards which would actually run a Mac emulation faster than an actual Mac. Man, would I looooove to run LinuxPPC on one of THOSE.
I could keep going on forever, but it would appear as though I already have. For more amiga news, check out A HREF="http://www.amiga.org/news.shtml">Amiga News, and for those of you who want to resurrect your old Amigas or have specific questions you'd like answered, contact one of the largest (and few remaining) authorized Amiga retailers around.
These quickies are coming up so often, I think it's time Rob & co. designated a separate topic/logo combintion just for quickies. The first thing that comes to mind would be two people having sex... but maybe a clock or something would best exemplify a "quickie" in a socially acceptable manner.
Slashdot Mirror
Among the sketches are a number of palmtop/tablet device designs. They even go into some laptop-like systems, "kitchen countertop" systems, and definitely gaming systems.
Still. Sketches are one things. I need to see it to believe it.
Touch it. Feel it. Love it.
Overheard some developers talking about all of this yesterday. They were making distinctions between the use of the Linux Kernel in a future AmigaOE, and the use of the Linux MicroKernel. I've never splitexistential hairs like that before (which is why I was basically eavesdropping instead of participating). Goofy?
Everything I've read thus far points to support for legacy apps ("classic Amiga") being provided through software emulation like UAE. Yup. The Amiga emulates an Amiga to get the job done.
Of course, after seeing this announcement yesterday, anything is possible. I'm sure Amiga Inc's other "close development partners" are shaking in their shoes. Who'll be next to get the axe?
http://www.amiga.com/diary/1999/990799-e.html
Read the Executive Update article as well. Interesting dynamics between this announcement and the QNX announcement of only a few hours earlier.
As for Lemmings, well, the guys at Psygnosis programmed it as an Amiga game from the outset, so I'm not surprised that it was by far the best implementation of Lemmings anyone can find.
They better not botch the beautiful balance they've struck between GUI and CLI. That would truly piss me off.
My my my. My baby is still sitting here, next to my relatively brand-spanking-new Linux box. In fact, that's what I'm typing on right now! It amazes me that a system whose company dried up and vanished so many years ago is still able to stir up such strong emotions. I guess that's why I could never truly bring myself to ever leave the platform. I just hope Amiga Inc. can capitalize on such nostalgia with their marketing instead of the previous tactic of relying solely on those of us who have stuck-it-out to fuel their platform. I just hope the new OS... oh, sorry, Amiga Operating Environment v5.0... manages to retain some of the nice modular features of the current OS. Would keep me happy.
All in all, it's nice to see *SOMETHING* emerge from the vacuum of secrets that has been the current Amiga.
Try that on this (North) side of the 49th parallel, man. :^)
I wouldn ever have tripped across the article if it wasn't for my incessant monitoring of Slashdot goodies...
Of course it was cheap. That was a big factor in its favour...
Then again, realize that Amiga prices are primarily inflated because of a lack of market share. Take the tech in an Amiga box and apply the same mass-marketing economics to it as you would to standard PC components, and it would cost a bungload less. That's the way it was back when there was still a company pumping out boxes.
As for low cost, nobody said you needed an Amiga4000 to do all that stuff. Ever heard of an Amiga1200? Low cost, low profile, damned powerful.
The AmigaOS going to be built in layers around the QNX neutrino. That's QNX's contribution. The rest of the OS is probably going to be handled by Amiga Inc. and coders like Haage & Partner.
For the umpteenth time... they're only using Intel chips for their development system. The final "next-generation" (for lack of a better term) Amigas will be out there with a yet-to-be-announced processor. It ain't gonna be no Intel, that's fersure.
(Make all the grammatical comments you want. I wrote that last sentence like that on purpose. If you want to dock marks for it, take it up with my high school English teacher.)
Intel platforms are cheap to come by, and work well with off the shelf parts. Nice for development. Hell... the original Amiga architechture (hard & soft) was developed on Sun Workstations way back when...
Yes, I WILL believe it when I see it, but until then I think it's more pipe dreams and vapourware. Amiga Inc. is heading in the right direction, they just desperately need to pick up speed and start getting somewhere. The market ... or what shreds are left of it ... have seen too much shit to keep sucking back on empty promises.
Amiga News is a handy place to get the latest scoop on what's going down in the Amiga market... though Slashdot these days is starting to become a close second or third! :^)
It's very true. The PC and the "Toaster Box" were linked to one another. The software on the PC was basically just a user-interface for the Amiga2000/Toaster product sitting next to the PC box. The "PC Toaster" hardware was just a link between the devices. The PC didn't really do much real work, short of perhaps some fun with Lightwave here and there. All the muscle was next door!
Now if only they'd release something truly geekworthy instead of just talking about it...
Check out the online prices at National Amiga A. nationalamiga.com/.
HREF="http://www.nationalamiga.com/">http://www
They're one of the largest, and few remaining, authorized Amiga retailers
around... and one of the few I trust. They also specialize in Video Toaster
Flyer systems, if you're curious.
The new AmigaOS is being developed on x86 machines (they're cheap),
but the "Next Generation" Amigas will be running on a yet-to-be-announced
chip. No word on custom chipsets, though the current market as it is seems
to be encouraging development of platform-independent operating systems. I'm
personally hoping Amiga will be able to fall into this stream fairly
comfortably... but first I just want to see them do SOMETHING.
Bad hardware design --> it was considered revolutionary in its time.
Crappy unstable OS --> more stable than anything M$ has going.
Amiga500 --> stripped down bargain version of the A2000.
Amiga is dead --> mine is fine
Obsolete --> mine is fine
WinNT --> bahahaha
Intel --> bahahaha
I love sarcastic posts, don't you?
There's talk about integrating the TCP/IP stack, but not of integrating a
browser directly into the OS. As for an OS tax, you can currently get Amigas
without the OS without a problem. The Kickstart chip is required to get
things up and running (chip-based segment of AmigaOS), but you can always
jump right into Linux with no problems at all. In fact, the A3000UX came out
with Unix right out of the box.
AmigaOS v4 is being constructed. That's just because the parts are cheap and
readily available. The release box for the public, running OSv5 (basically
OS4release vs OS4developer, above), will be based on a chip
yet-to-be-announced... though the minimum criteria for the chip have been
publically available, and are quite impressive.
You get the impression from all of this, though, that Amiga Inc. is quite
staunch in it's stance that Intel's x86 architecture, much like the 68k, is
passe.
To give you an idea, my A4000 is running off a CyberStormPPC processor card, with 68060@50Mhz/PPC604e@200Mhz dual processing... as well as UWSCSI support to my 9gigs of HD space and my 36X CDROM drive (I tore out the IDE drives, as the on-board controller is slow and horribly out of date). Got something just under 128megs of RAM, though the only time I ever need that much is when I'm running an emulator. Might not seem like much from a PC perspective, but running a compact and efficient OS like AmigaOS, it's pretty blazing fast.
I have a second SCSI card dedicated to my flatbed scanner, as well as perks like multiple monitors and an IV24 video processing card (titling, genlock, balancing, screengrabber). Not bad for a dead computer system, eh? 2gig set aside for my Mac emulator, and 2gig currently lying in wait of Linux... which I'll happily install the SECOND someone (Jes?) finishes the driver for my specific UWSCSI card.
There are plans in the works to bring Amigas to a fully PPC platform, with the 68K code run entirely in emulation. Developers are working on dual-G3 boards which would actually run a Mac emulation faster than an actual Mac. Man, would I looooove to run LinuxPPC on one of THOSE.
I could keep going on forever, but it would appear as though I already have. For more amiga news, check out A HREF="http://www.amiga.org/news.shtml">Amiga News, and for those of you who want to resurrect your old Amigas or have specific questions you'd like answered, contact one of the largest (and few remaining) authorized Amiga retailers around.
These quickies are coming up so often, I think it's time Rob & co.
designated a separate topic/logo combintion just for quickies. The first
thing that comes to mind would be two people having sex... but maybe a
clock or something would best exemplify a "quickie" in a socially acceptable
manner.