Hello everyone

So I've been on this forum for quite while, haven't posted all that much yet, so I guess it's time I introduce myself.

To start, I have no actual background on the Amiga. I've been a Mac OS 9 user since the early years, having many fond memories of that platform. Later, I've been a Mac OS X (now MacOS) user, while using Windows on the side and shifting more and more towards Linux in recent times.

MacOS has been lackluster. The OS was slower from the start than Mac OS 9 and Apple has been focused on bloating their OS with all kind of "connected features" like personal assistants and SMS and call integration, while I personally think these things should remain third party auxiliary applications. Windows has been going down this road as well and I have no good words for Windows 10, it has been terribly unstable until I shut down all standard background applications that hogged my RAM like no tomorrow.

So I've been using Linux more and more, even migrating a lot of my games and work to Linux. While Ubuntu serves all my needs perfectly and it isn't as bloated as MacOS and Windows 10, Linux sometimes feels like a Frankenstein monster of an OS, sewn together from many parts that mostly work in harmony, but sometimes unravel too easily.

So I started to become nostalgic towards the old Mac OS 9, only one problem, the platform was practically dead (it's been looking up with some people of MacOS9Lives who want to make a community Mac OS 9.3).

in the mean time I saw a video on the Amiga CD32. I had never heard of the Amiga before (Commodore going bankrupt before I was even born) and I looked it up. I was intrigued to find a platform that was still pretty much alive (and as a bit of a PPC fan, happy to see it running on that platform).

So I started looking deeper and uncovered the rich history of the platform including its current iterations. For the moment, I have one old dumpster-dived-ish PC running AROS Icaros Desktop. While some parts of the OS are a bit confusing (Icaros' documentation is a bit lackluster), learning the new OS has been a fun experience.

So now I'm waiting for the A1222 (and waiting for reviews of course), but I've also been following the Apollo Team and their progress.

Greetings from a newbie to all
Casper

@WolfpackN64

Well, welcome!

I have tried many times doing linux distros my main OS, anyway, this os is boring and I have to deal with it at work everyday so hum.
Windows is broken, anyway still this is my main OS.
AmigaOS is still my hobby OS.

You'll find here all cases, 100% amiga-like preachers (replace -like by any "fork" of amigaos, including classic os, new gen oses), nostalgic people from the glory years, sad people, nice people and so on.

Still we're not dead;)

@WolfpackN64

I think you're going to like it, but this more hobby for most, there is difference between alive and well and alive, AmigaOS flexible, lots of options, for customization, not really, never going to be MacOS really, but's not that alien as you might have found out, maybe major difference is that MacOS is has lot professional programs. AmigaOS is mostly the community that has supported over the years, so software also sort is different, in that most software does not do more the needs too. Anyway it be good idea to be able to program a bit, if you need some things you might not always find it.

SDK is freely available, and community is always willing to help.

Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 13-Dec-2016 at 07:29 PM.

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@WolfpackN64

Welcome!


There are still some printed Amiga magazines (eg. Amiga Future, which has even past issues up to 2012 online - may be worth of read). If you are PowerPC fan, MorphOS is nice OS to try: supports many "garbage" Macs and is (in some aspects) more polished than AROS distributions. As of AmigaOS 4, you can install it under WinUAE, but note your experience will be limited.

@WolfpackN64

Personally I have no problem with Windows and I'm currently posting this on a system that was upgraded from Win7 to Win10.
While I do miss Win7, installing it these days involves a nightmarish number of updates which often install only to leave the live update function not working.

As to OSX, I greatly prefer that to OS9 as it is based on a much better core (BSD).
It does require fairly compete hardware though, and the variants supporting PPC systems no longer receive updates.

Linux has never worked that well for me, and when it crashes its definitely the hardest to troubleshoot (with limited ability to repair faulty modules).
"Frankensteinish"? Definitely. And the video drivers never perform as well as those in proprietary OS'.
Then there's proprietary video streaming like my Netflix subscription, not happening under Linux.

That being said, I still get a big kick out of my A2000 and CD32.
And I use MorphOS on PPC Macs.
Plus I'm looking forward to buying an X5000.

If the A1222 had been based on a more competent cpu, I might have considered that.

And yes, the Vampire2 definitely looks promising.

BTW - While I was around during the Amiga heyday, I did not participate in the community at that point, using other 68K based systems instead.
But this community has the most active development of all 68K hobbyist platforms, so here we are.

Oh...and welcome to the community.

@WolfpackN64

Welcome!

The Amiga has a nicely integrated hardware and OS, and with all the custom chips was years ahead of the competition back in the day. Unfortunately bad management meant Commodore collapsed before the Amiga was overtaken, and it could have competed for longer (some will argue that it has innovations that still haven't been surpassed). A series of unfortunate events mean it has been left with a splintered community, expensive hardware, and no market share or any hope of ever regaining any. But don't let that put you off! AmigaOS 4.1 on modern hardware is fast, light and logical, and - importantly - fun!

I never thought much of MacOS. I hated Windows, but quite like Windows 10. I still hate the underlying architecture and design, and Microsoft's former business practices, but it's quite nice to use, although that might be partly because I've become so accustomed to the annoyances over the years (such as not being able to drag things into file requesters like you can with ASL, or the inability to not move a sodding window to the front when you click on it). It's definitely preferable to all previous versions of Windows though.
I like RISC OS. That's worth checking out (you can run it on a Raspberry Pi). The UI is very drag'n'drop and intuitive. The underlying design is a bit iffy in places, I think AmigaOS is better put together, but the UI is superb and drag'n'drop still hasn't reached that level elsewhere. The platform has been through similar trauma to the Amiga, they have cheap hardware now but the userbase was never as big.
I have a laptop I run Linux on (I use Mint Cinnamon), and of course I use Raspbian on the Pi a lot. It's fast - not as fast as AmigaOS - and you can do lots with it. I've grown to like it over the years, it's nicely hackable and if something doesn't work how you want it to you can usually fix it. Although exactly how things are supposed to work on Linux is often open to interpretation, and there are lots of things I don't like, I like to use it over Windows and it can usually be coerced into doing odd things. The Pi is especially good for that! My boss is a Ubuntu fan so I'm able to take the opportunity to run Linux servers rather than Windows when it is possible to do so. Sadly most software companies haven't got to the stage of providing Linux versions of their server software yet.

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@iggy

Quote:

Then there's proprietary video streaming like my Netflix subscription, not happening under Linux.

This has been working for a couple years now. You have to use Chrome -- Chromium will not work, since it lacks the necessary DRM support. There is no configuration; you just go to netflix.com and log in as on any other system or device. I have tested this extensively. (Six seasons of Hawaii Five-0, etc.)

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@bison

Useful info, I use Chrome under Android and Windows already.

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Amiga! "Our appeal has become more selective"

Put your kevlar vest before delacring you are a bit of a Power fan. If you're also a rpg fan like myself you put it on in the first place

I can say as being with Amiga all those years ago and then coming back that it is both being new to it and learning about an old friend again and his changed habits. The nice thing is that you keep mixing between the 2 and approach something you have already seen and suddenly see it in a different light. That can be both a positive and negative experience.

I wish you all the best on your new exciting platform and keep in mind that on Amiga the user needs to step up more than on other platforms and the reward being you become a better user and more of the os and amigaland is openned up to you. I guess other oss and the powers that control them don't take it as a sought after charactaristic. That is our gain and not keeping you in a limited pathway. Have fun young padawan

@WolfpackN64

Welcome to Amiga, hope you will enjoy

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AmigaOS 4.1 FEu2 on Sam440ep-flex 800MHz 1GB RAM
C128, A500+, A1200, A1200/40, AmigaForever 2008+09+16, 5 x86/x64 boxes
Still waiting (or dreaming) for the Amiga revolution...
m4rko.com/AMIGA

@WolfpackN64

welcome to Amiga Land where you're in great company being both a 68k and PPC fan

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@WolfpackN64

hi wellcome,
this is my personal experience im a a ppc fun too.

windows is for my job,
osx is for fun
amiga is home

ciao
Luigi

Last edited by tlosm on 14-Dec-2016 at 06:22 AM.

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WWWWOOOOWWWW

It looks almost impossible to get in a guy that is not a white hair nostalgic!

@ilbarbax

Quote:

almost impossible to get in a guy that is not a white hair nostalgic!

56 @ the end of this month and only a little gray hair here, so...
But nostalgic? Damned skippy!

Its so validating realizing that everything has come to look like something you were advocating decades ago.
Its like going to a Black Sabbath concert with your son and having him look over at you a say "This is pretty cool!"

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Amiga! "Our appeal has become more selective"

@WolfpackN64

In terms of any confusing points relating to Icaros, have you looked in at aros-exec? People over there are very happy to help with any issues that might crop up using Icaros or AROS in general.

Cheers,
Nigel.

@WolfpackN64

Hi, welcome to your new home

BTW, how old are you? I'm 45 here.

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

@ntromans

I have looked on aros-exec and it has cleared up the most nagging issues like network and file copying. I'm still trying to remove the Action Bar though.

@elwood

Thanks for the welcome, I'm 21.

@WolfpackN64

Do you mean the Amistart bar at the bottom of the screen? Have a look at Icaros Settings in Prefs, there should be an option in there to turn it off.

Cheers,
Nigel.

@ntromans

I mean the colored action bar at the right of the screen. I know how to turn it off for one session, but after a reboot, it re-appears.