Competition

Das AMIGA-aktuell-International competition

1. Results of the last competition

45 readers participated at our last competition. Please participate this time again. You know, that you can already win with two answers.

But now, the solution:

Standard question:  These days AMIGA ships a new product. What is it? 
  
Answer: We looked for the Amiga developer's environment, the Amiga SDK. 
  
Master question:  The new Amiga operating system will be used stand-alone or "hosted" on another OS. Name three operating systems, which will be supported by AMIGA. 
  
Answer: There were multiple combinations possible, e.g. Linux, Windows95 and WindowsNT. 
  
Question of opinion: How do you evaluate the work of AMIGA during the last six months?

The results:

Answer Number of votes 

1 (Absolutely positive.) 16 
2 (Quite positive) 29 
3 (Quite negative). 
4 (Absolutely negative) 
  

Some participants commented the question of opinion:

»The release of the SDK is a spark of hope at least, a light at the end of the tunnel. But for myself I would have preferred further development of the "Classic" AmigaOS, e.g. a complete native port to PPC (done by Amiga itself).

I only hope that with all this (very welcome) development the feeling of the present-day AmigaOS will not be lost. The presentation of the elateOS on 3sat [a German TV-station; editor's note] has not convinced me yet. And besides the software it should not be forgotten that it is (was) the hardware that makes an Amiga. A Motorola-CPU belongs in an Amiga. Just my opinion :)«

Klaus Moddemann is quite content as well, but expected more: »I think that Amiga has done quite a good job in the last six months, but I expected a bit more than the just-released SDK. Oh well, at least we've seen more than just a few design drafts and announcements, which means they're working on important matters and not on trivia like the look of a new system.«

Christian Britz is not quite certain: »It is really difficult to judge the work of Amiga Inc., their predecessors made big promises as well. But the latest news sounds quite positive!«

Similar ideas expressed by Michael Seibt: »I do not know what to think about Amiga's latest announcements. The latest Executive Update sounded like it was crafted by Collas. [No surprise - the Executive Updates of that time were written by Bill McEwen; editor's note.] I myself do not believe in the scribbling of Billy-boy. When there's something available in the market I will begin to believe in the future of the Ami again.«

Thomas Mitzschke has a quite optimistic view of the future: »I think the way leads upwards again and the possibility for everyone to choose an individual computer system can only be welcome. The better the port to different systems, the faster we will be able to use new software on our various computers.«

Andreas Wolf wants to state just one thing: »I still miss a PPC-AmigaOS!«

Fritz Trampnau reacts reservedly: »Whatever the new Amigas will be like when they are available, it's going to be a surprise for us. In any case, I have some hardware on hand (Blizzard PPC 603e+) - hope this is enough, what if a DOSbox (shudder) is needed, either with AMD (shudder again) or even with an Intel proccy (double shudder!) - we can only wait and see how it will come out in the end!«

Axel Knabe criticizes the procedure of the SDK presentation at the »World of Alternatives«: »I think it fortunate that something has happened. Not so good, in my opinion, is that Bill made the presentation in Neuss to only a small group of persons. I believe it was of interest to everybody. It ought to have been shown on a big movie screen to all visitors. You would have felt mistreated too if you had visited the fair, you and all the visitors didn't see anything, but when you got home you read on the internet that there was a presentation ... too bad. Amiga ought to know that it is important to show any news to everybody!«

Martin Steigerwald couldn't quite make up his mind: »It is a bit difficult to judge. I feel it's a bit of a rollercoaster ... sometimes I hear good news, then something I recognize as not so good. I believe it will all hinge on what Amiga Inc. supply as updates for the AmigaSDK and what will appear in press releases from other companies.«

In the view of Martin Cornelius the work done is very positive »This time something really seems to have come out of it. The idea behind all of this is excellent. If you had the luck to hear Bill McEwen's speech you would have been convinced. This time there was a product, ready to show, not, as often before, an announcement that would be cancelled later on. In my opinion this is the correct way. Let's hope potential customers will start "big talk" over the Amiga again. It really could be the last chance.«

Another Martin, with surname Henke, is confident as well: »I believe Amiga is on the right track. The plan to make the new OS independent of a hardware platform is the only chance to clean Windows off the market, if that's possible at all. But AMIGA must not forget to build up a good marketing department, because with good marketing you can sell nearly anything (as Microsoft showed with Windows). AMIGA, lots of luck to you! «

Christian Aichinger takes a view from the economic angle: »The work done so far by Amiga was very good. New partners discovered, a new team drawn up, new alliances formed. What else can a startup enterprise accomplish inside of 6 months? Making big money right away is very unlikely in this business.«

Similar is the view of Gernod Schomberg »A new administration including the commercial and personnel departments had to be established, even if Amino might have had the basic structures already. The existing contacts with partners and customers had to be put on a professional basis. A marketable product (not just something for a few thousand Amiga fans, but something wanted in the world of computers) had to be specified and development started. There is so much detailed work involved that it is really amazing that Amiga is already in the market with a product.

There certainly will be points to argue, but the first of them (bundled software/hardware package, Amiga-specific hardware) has quickly been settled. And you've got to hand it to the team - they speedily fixed that horrible blunder when the Amiga-World edition for May on Amiga's website had Windows-specific tags which the Amiga browsers couldn't handle.

All things considered I'm expecting quite a lot of goodies!«

Markus Castro just states: »Some odd decisions, but for the first time something real.«


Conclusion: The result seems clear - contributors recognize the work done by AMIGA since the beginning of this year as positive, and more than a third even say they are extremely satisfied.

We will pose this question again from time to time, to gauge the mood towards the management of AMIGA.

But now to the winners of the last competition:


1 x full version of "AFiloFaxPro": Michael Seibt 
1 x full version of "Future Drive Accelerator": Marc Gutzwiller 
1 x six Amiga-CD-ROMs: Oliver Hummel 
 

Congratulations!