@hazydave

Quote:

If it's just 68K software you want, older Amigas or maybe the Natami seem more reasonable options

That depends on the price of Natami. OS-friendly 68k applications will run probably faster emulated on 440EP (SAM) than on "68050" of Natami. I (really) hope price of Natami will be lower than price of SAM440ep-flex.

@hazydave

Once again!

Among all those posts again , perfect answer with point and facts.

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...administration is for serious people only....

@hazydave

Do you know that the Alternative AmigaOS which is MorphOS can be installed on PowerMac G4, MacMini G4 and even eMac G4? Also in development for PowerBook G4. MorphOS is quite good mr Haynie. MUI4 is for MorphOS, AmIRC for PPC is for MorphOS, OWB is for MorphOS, Blender, MPlayer, Titler, TvPaint, Deluxe Paint, Digi Booster PRO is all working on MorphOS. You can play 720p HD movies with MacMini G4 and MorphOS! AmiTradeCenter, YAM, Showgirls, Quake I, Quake II, Quake III, WipeOut 2097, Myst, Payback is all games working too. MorphOS is the alternative AmigaOS and is something you should look at and it doesnt cost a fortune to buy a secondhand PowerPC MAC...

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Regards,
Michal, Amiga user since 1988
amitopia@gmail.com

@hazydave

Nice talking to you. In the past few months I've had the privilege of talking with Carl Sassenrath (and drinking some of his excellent wine) and Dale Luck, two of the original Amiga development team at AmiWest 2010 and now you, even if it is only via this forum.

You wrote:-

Quote:

Anyone else is probably going to run UAE on a PC... which is going to be faster on any classic 68K Amiga software anyway.

I am a great advocate and (financial) supporter of "Amiga Forever" and have my system pre-configured with both AmiKit and AmigaSys workbench distros. But running AmigaOS under Windows or Linux just doesn't really feel like a real Amiga. The extra overhead of Windows or Linux detracts from the performance of the AmigaOS. The "next gen"PowerPC systems from Eyetech, ACube and even Genesi are much more Amiga like. Fast, simple and elegant.

Following their settlement agreement with Amiga Inc, Hyperion Entertainment now control the development and future of the AmigaOS and at the moment this is tied to PPC hardware. In collaboration with AmigaKit they are about to release the fully updated version of AmigaOS4 for Classic Amigas equipped with Phase5 PPC accelerators. As a Beta Tester I can confirm this is a nice product for the Classic Amiga enthusiasts who is lucky enough to own a Phase5 PPC accelerator card.

However, for people who want low cost, the Minimig (from ACube) also offers a nice Classic experience. However, for the ultimate Classic fix there is nothing better that using the original Amiga hardware, my personal favourite is the A2000 (my first Amiga) followed closely by my A4000T.

You also wrote:-

Quote:

This suggests that any AmigaOS PPC system purchase is based entirely on what you want to do: write new software or run existing PPC software, maybe.

That is exactly right. Not everyone want to march to the same drum or follow the herd. Personally I am not particularly interested in a "me too" x86 box. If it was not for the originality of Jay, and his design team there would be no Amiga and I would be posting this from my Windows PC. (Actually, hands up, I'm away from my A1 & Sam440 at the moment and am posting from my Asus netbook running Ubuntu 10.10 )

The economics of developing a PowerPC desktop system is certainly problematic but not impossible as ACube and (hopefully) A-EON have proved. AmigaOS is already fast on single core 667 & 800Mhz PowerPC CPUs. The new higher speed, multi-core PPC CPUs promise even more performance especially when SMP is finally implemented in the AmigaOS. The cost of these CPUs is also coming down, although low volume manufacturing will always be costly compared to mass produced x86 boards from South East Asia and China. Again, personally I still prefer custom built Amiga specific hardware. Unfortunately, even if this was based on x86 or some other CPU the development cost for low volume production would still be high.

BTW I can still cash all my cheques (or is it checks?)

TrevorD

Edit: typo x 3

Last edited by TrevorDick on 17-Apr-2011 at 11:55 PM.
Last edited by TrevorDick on 17-Apr-2011 at 10:40 PM.
Last edited by TrevorDick on 17-Apr-2011 at 10:38 PM.

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No, I don't need no reason, I'm just breezin'

@hazydave

It's clear that PPC doesn't have offerings that would allow a desktop system using one to compete with PCs in "performance per dollar". But x86 Macs also can't compete in that regard yet they have a sustainable market. And suppose A-EON/Hyperion released some x86-based AmigaOS system, it still wouldn't attract people over from the PC/Mac user base, since the OS still has a long way to catch up and the software offering is poor, so it would still have nothing to offer to someone outside the keen Amiga-enthusiast market.

There's clearly a lot more work to do before any AmigaOS4-based system can appeal to people who moved on to other platforms. Until then the best Amiga companies can do is to deliver to keen Amiga enthusiasts more of what they want and that's what the machines currently developed are trying to achieve. Considering that a couple of years ago the Amiga scene seemed doomed and dull with hardly any hope for a future, what we have now is a huge step forward, with new hardware coming out every year and OS development continuing at a steady (if not so rapid) pace.