ArsTechnica AmigaOS 4.1 Review

Nice review, I recommend all of you to read it. But I will quote here the most interesting line on the article:

Quote:

A Hyperion developer told me that not only has the OS been run on a PS3, but they have even tested support for the seven SPU units in the Cell processor.

Anyone knows if that's true? Exagerated? Time for some dancing bananas for PS3 owners?

Last edited by madmalkav on 23-Sep-2008 at 09:51 AM.

@madmalkav

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AmigaOne XE - AmigaOS 4.1 - Freescale 7457 1GHz - 1GB ram

@madmalkav

AOS4 on PS3 would be the greatest thing since the discovery of fire.

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Even if my posts don't reflect it, I promise you I AM a developer.

It is always with a big smile and joy in my heart when i read Amiga articles written by Jeremy Reimer on Ars. This one is no different and i followed the history of the Amiga (still waiting for the next chapter Jeremy ) and still read it from time to time. Once again, thank you Jeremy for a very nice article.

AmigaOS on PS3? Yes please!


@madmalkav
Thanks for point the link. I usually read ArsTechnica but i might have missed this one.

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@madmalkav
IMHO bringing OS4.1 to PS3 would be the most obvious (and relatively easy for Hyperion too, hopefully) way to bring together up-to-date AND relatively cheap hardware.

And it would sound amiga-ish too having a nice game machine plus our beloved operating systems... as it was during the good old days of the A500/1200.

@Turrican3

I think no one interested in AmigaOS can say a bad word about the idea of having the OS running on PS3. But I'm curious about all the process behind. Being a comercial OS, it will probably need some kind of license from Sony. Also, if you want it to be more thana curiosity, you need to market it something like "convert your PS3 in a state-of-the-art computer", and that will require it to have some of the basic software of current computing included and well implemented, like an ofimatic suite and the like.

In the tech area, I don't know how the SPU really works. Are they independant, so it will require the OS to take some optimizations for multicore machines?

Lot of stuff involved here, I will like to reaqd some educated guesses ;)

As always, sorry for my bad english.

I have a PS3 so it would be neat, but i don't think it's gonna happen though. And i think the ps3 has pretty limited RAM, like 256MB or something like that.

@fryguy

Memory:

* 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
* 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

A question for those of you who know: Is there an easy way to fix this?

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Even if my posts don't reflect it, I promise you I AM a developer.

@madmalkav
Good point here.

Well, as you probably know there are already a couple of Linux distro available for the PS3, but I guess those do not count as valid examples.

Problem is: should an OS go through the same licensing scheme from Sony Computer Entertainment as games, or not?

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to this question.

@MrFancyPants

Is there a really need to fix this? PS3 as a plataform for OS4 will not target the most hardcore amiga users, now they have SAM for that, but for some people that will love to make a comeback reusing hardware they already own or hardware that they will buy for more use than OS4. As far as it can give a good web browser, IM, some text processing, those kind of things, it will be OK for that kind of user and will help to get the system more known between the public and get some good old money for continue investing on the OS.

Just my two cents.

@Turrican3

Exactly, that lunix distros are free of charge, Sony doesn't pretend to get any money form them but give a positive perception about opening their system. (I'm *absolutely* sure this sentence is not really ok, please free to tell me if it is not fully understandable).

But, being AmigaOS a commercial product, Sony will want to apply to their licensing system. Will be the same that for a game? Dunno.

Quote:

A Hyperion developer told me that not only has the OS been run on a PS3, but they have even tested support for the seven SPU units in the Cell processor.

Not all SPU units are available for third party OS... Sounds like it's false then... sigh...

Quote:

Hyperion has done the same with the new memory manager they built for OS 4.1: memory protection is there, but the user can't turn it on.

This article is full of mistakes...

Quote:

One feature that you get basically "for free" with memory protection is virtual memory—the ability to substitute hard drive space for RAM in a pinch, allowing more applications to be loaded than could normally fit into memory.

Again, that's wrong... virtual memory has nothing to do with memory protection... sigh...

x86 articles on ArsTechnica are far more interesting and accurate... This article is written by some die-hard fan :(

Last edited by Leo on 23-Sep-2008 at 11:09 AM.

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I liked the review very much. Nice work :D

@Leo

We are making lot of assumptions there. It can mean they tried all the SPUs according to the third party OS limitations. Perhaps it means that, it they get a license like the gaming companies, they will have access to the full hardware like the games do... Dunno, it is all quite hypotetical.

@madmalkav

You are probably correct, but some applications would definitively benefit from some more RAM, like for instance a development environment. Using the AOS4 on the PS3 to (try to) make games would be something I could imagine myself doing.

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Even if my posts don't reflect it, I promise you I AM a developer.

@madmalkav

One remark from Jeremy that stood out for me was this one:
Quote:

The operating system still boots up in under ten seconds to a fully functional desktop,

Using a µA1 just like me, I wonder how the h*ll he managed to achieve such a result? Mine takes about 40 seconds (43 to be precise...) to hand me over 'a fully functional desktop'.




OldFart

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@Leo

Quote:

Not all SPU units are available for third party OS... Sounds like it's false then... sigh...

Yes... and, AFAIK, there are other limits in what a foreign OS can do on the PS3.

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AmigaOS, the last hope...

Very nice article indeed i hope the statement about OS4.x running on a PS3 with all spu's used is true, this would mean multi processor/core support should not be a long time away ?

I would buy a ps3 if it could run OS 4.x, okay and now fantasy mode on :

If Hyperion showed Sony a working OS4 install on a PS3 with all spu's enabled and all hardware features supported as far as it is possible, maybe they can team up with drawing some funding from sony to sell as a PS3 add-on for desktop use so OS4 development can speed up and thus enable Java VM modern OpenGL standards etc in OS4 and thus targeting a new market ?

Ok dream mode off:

No this will not happen i can feel the legal battles comming up, sony wanting a piece of the cake and Amiga Inc. being that nasty hard to handle impossible boy again...

Last edited by Mr-Z on 23-Sep-2008 at 11:34 AM.

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@OldFart

How on Earth yours takes 43?-)

@madmalkav

Finally Sony has proof that the PS3 is a computer!