The release of Timberwolf is certainly a piece of great software, a milestone Next Generation Amiga software, although beta.

Looking at OS4depot make me ponder on some numbers....

Only 681 downloads. I don't know if someone had the possibility to download the software from other locations, or got the Timberwolf via friends with skype, msn, and so on....
We can also think about that someone downloaded the software twice....

Assuming that these numbers reflect the actual number of NG amiga around, we cannot considerer those numbers. The AmigaOne500 and the AmigaOne x1000 are for sure fresh air, but someone have to definitively consider this situation.

I'm thinking about the numerous calls to join the forces or the various polls inviting the parties to collaborate. Is the time for all the Amiga flavours to come together as one?

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retired

@AmigaBlitter

Are you surprised about this number? I read a estimate of about 500-700 users based on a driver-download. And this seems to confirm this estimate. The camps are so small (except perhaps 68k including emulated environments).

@OlafS25

Quote:

Are you surprised about this number?

Yes, I thought that situation was a little better, not so critical

Moreover, i'm really surprised that the parties are not yet sitting around a table to collaborate. Really surprised.

Last edited by AmigaBlitter on 27-Feb-2012 at 10:36 AM.

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retired

@AmigaBlitter

All camps (expecially at the core) have big egos. So I do not know if there is a will to unify. And you cannot simply merge different code. You could take the best ideas from all flavors and start together to develope a new unified OS. More realistic would be to have common standards for common problems like USB, PCI, 2D/3D etc. But for that you need the will to drop your own developments to get common standards. Example would be Poseidon for USB that is already there in Aros and MorphOS.

@AmigaBlitter

they can afford to act this way because none of the camps has (really) to earn money with it. If all would need to earn money the situation already would have changed a lot...

@AmigaBlitter

It has only been available for download a week now, it's still a beta and not all machines will run it smoothly (don't expect classic PPC users to download it) - and you might even find users who prefer using another browser.

So I don't think you can conclude anything from these numbers.

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Maintainer of www.bigbookofamigahardware.com

@bitman

You may want to add 300 more users? This doesn't change the fact that those numbers are really poor.

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retired

@AmigaBlitter

Well, quite the opposite, I am surprised the numbers are that many!

Commodore bankrupted 18 years ago. Since then there is no clear path to follow, very slow updates to the platform and we will get happy if one out of ten hardware projects shows on the market.

Instead of focusing on one platform, different groups of developers headed for diverse paths and now we have four different Amiga platforms, each of them running on different hardware, developed by different people and having own goals.

Most of the Amiga fans I knew in the past are now PC/Playstation/XBox fans and only have distant memories of what the Amiga have been 20 years ago.

Edit:
P.S. If you are not convinced that if we had only one platform, we would be better, look at the stats of top rated C64 demos, where only one hardware is available - Edge of Disgrace demo for C64

Last edited by drHirudo on 27-Feb-2012 at 10:59 AM.

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@drHirudo

Yes it would. It would also help if not everyone reinvents every wheel but there are the egos...

For the lazy ones:

Download :
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/getinternalfile.php/67631/EdgeOfDisgrace.zip (downloads: 12324)
ftp://ftp.scs-trc.net/pub/c64/Party/2008/X/Edge_Of_Disgrace.zip (downloads: 1321)

It's not a big secret that users has been dropping off in the last years.
This is very obviously when I look into our stats for our home page which is kinda sad =(

I have downloaded TW even though I havn't got a OS4-system (just of curiousity).

@Develin

Quote:

It's not a big secret that users has been dropping off in the last years.

No, not a secret; now is become a real problem.

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retired

@AmigaBlitter

I have not downloaded TW yet.. so it's now only 298 potentially missing downloads.
I think most users here have other computer systems and prefer to surf the web with their main systems.

I think this thread has potential to become a doomsday thread. Something we have not been seeing since a bunch of months.

But yes the numbers are worrying, anyway, let them release the second batch of X1000 and the Portable...

I don't believe MOS, AOS and AROS are going to merge, to be useful IMHO only a clean cut would help. That means 2 would have to disappear and all the developers would have to concentrate on one system.
Adding some compatibility layer and such would be a waste of time and resources.

my two cents

@AmigaBlitter

And here I am returning to an Amiga OS.... I still seem to break conventions somewhere

@AmigaBlitter

According to Wikipedia: Quote:

As of January 2012, Firefox has approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers,

....

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Maintainer of www.bigbookofamigahardware.com

@Develin

Quote:

I have downloaded TW even though I havn't got a OS4-system (just of curiousity).

And you dare to tell us!!!??? Now buy a second hand Sam440 and you'll be forgiven

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Philippe 'Elwood' Ferrucci
Sam460 1.10 Ghz
AmigaOS 4 betatester
Amiga Translator Organisation

Kind of a shame but not that surprising, I hope that the AmigaOne x1000 and Netbook can bring in some new people and new developers to the Amiga market. I doubt the Morphos or aros markets are much better, I think Aros could attract new people to the platform because it's free and runs on cheap hardware, I think interest in that platform is on the rise, which is good to see.
I do think the market is pretty stable now however and anyone not interested in the Amiga platform I would of thought had moved on by now we just need to find a way of getting more people interested in the new platforms.

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AmigaNG, YouTube, LeaveReality Studio

@bitman

That's my observation from the sites I support. About an even split between IE, Chrome and Firefox, with Safari holding a distant fourth.

Quote:

As of January 2012, Firefox has approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers,

@amigang

I still can't see the logic:

Number of TW downloads in a week = Number of OS4 users.

Would that also mean that salesfigures for Newspaper X = Numbers of people who can read?

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Maintainer of www.bigbookofamigahardware.com

@Develin

Quote:

It's not a big secret that users has been dropping off in the last years. This is very obviously when I look into our stats for our home page which is kinda sad =(

The most dramatic year about loosing of user base are that last year. I even compare os4depot uploads. It grow till the 2011, and then 2011 are radically drops, and current one are seems really non-energetic. But as i see its the same and for mos and for aros (and your stats prove the same). Sure, some new users/developers come, but its like 1:20. 1 come, 20 left.

Its just everything come to what is should to come. Its already holds for too long just on the "remember the days". If none of the teams will in interst to make a money (so that mean grow more, get new developers to pay them, found a niche for), then its all will be like it now imho. Those "its only hobby-shmobby" are way to unprofessionalism => no users excepts fans.

As i see whole "amiga community" grow up year by year, but its take so long for all of us to understand some basic fundamental moments, that its all just suprising how all those amiga sites and oses still alive. Egos of developers, fanatism of users, strange ways of do things of many persons .. All of this just reduce user base day by day. But on positive note, i think that there unpossible to have less users. Even zx-spectrum have bigger user base today. Its kind of "life fast - die yang" :)

ps. I download TW 3 time by the way. One time when i wasn't at home , just to check docs inside and how all done in archive, second time when i was hope but on PC, and third time, when i was bored to found a flashcard to copy from pc to amiga that TW, and then dl tw from peg2 directly. So, numbers of real users are less.

@bitman
Quote:

I still can't see the logic: Number of TW downloads in a week = Number of OS4 users.

There is still some kind of logic. Of course we can't say TW downloads = 100% of amiga users, but for sure we can say about 90%. TW was kind of awaiting prod for last years, so almost every os4 user download it. Active ones for sure.

Last edited by kas1e on 27-Feb-2012 at 03:06 PM.
Last edited by kas1e on 27-Feb-2012 at 03:04 PM.

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