| From: | Donovan Reeve |
| Date: | 28 Aug 99 at 13:04:53 |
| Subject: | Re: Future of Amiga |
On 29-Aug-99, Luca Carminati flashed:
>Hi Blitzers,
>I've not been using my computer for about 3 months, and even during the
months
>before, I was not up-to-date ubout the lot of Amiga. I had heard about OS3.5
>and 5.0, as well as new kind of machines, but I have no precise information.
>Is there anyone who can tell me if the great bosses are trying to keep Amiga
>computers alive? What I'd like to know is if it's still worth continuing to
>develope software for the current machines (I've got an A1200/030/WB3.0).
>Maybe new generation Amigas will be born, but will
>the current programs be compatible with the new machines?
>Thank you very much for any information.
Hi Luca,
Any software you write which will run on Amiga OS 3.0-3.5 is guaranteed to
be runable on the NG Amigas because they will have hardware enhanced emulation
of the present generation Amigas. The new Amigas will of course have a
completely different processor from anything of any type now existing, so NO
software from ANY platform will be directly compatable. Software of all
types will however run faster on the new Amigas under emulation than on the
machines it was written for. Software written especially for the new Amigas
will flat FLY!!!
As for present generation Amigas, they aint dead yet! In fact, mainly due
to the increasingly easy availability of better processors and modern
periferels for them, they look to make at least a small resergence. Several
companys have very nicely equipt Amiga clones announced and several G3 cards
are under developement for emminent release within the next few months.
I personally believe that the present generation of Amigas will actually
benifit some from the release of the NG Amigas, and many will continue to
be used for years to come. However, most people will probably use their
present Amiga software undr emulation on the NG Amigas when they get them.
Whereas emulation of the present Amigas on wintel machines is basically
a novelty and more trouble than it's worth for most people (sort of like
emulating a wintel on an old Amiga), emulation of a present-generation
Amiga on a NG Amiga will be very good indeed. Adding a fast processor to
a present generation Amiga will definately make a new machine out of it
though, and adding a G3 PPC to one will make it leave pentiums and Macs
in the dust! The Amiga OS and software are so much more well optimised
that giving them a ride on a modern processor is like launching them
on a rocket! I use Art Effects 3 on my Amigas, and Photoshop 5 on a
Mac G3-350mhz tower at work. Art Effects with a good processor on the
Amiga OS is MUCH faster. The same can be said for Photogenics,
PageStream, Personal Paint, TV Paint, Alladin 4D, and a growing list of
other things which support PPC. The best news though, is that even
software written for M680x0 processors can now be run MUCH faster on
a PPC than on the native processor, and the new Amiga OS 3.5 supports
that as standard! The addition of a good graphics card gives another
great boost to the performance (not to mention the appearance) of
many programs, especially games which support them.
USB is coming on the NG amigas as well as several of the OG Amiga
clones. USB is handy and flexible, and will be cheap and ubiquitious,
but SCSI is still king performance-wise. USB will however serve very
well for most purposes.
Firewire may be on the NG Amigas (I certainly hope so) and on some
of the OG Amiga clones. Firewire is MUCH faster than USB, and is
finally catching on somewhat. It is more flexible than SCSI but not
faster. In a way it might be said that it combines the better
attributes of USB (simplicity, flexibility and potential economy) with
the speed advantage of SCSI. I hope it catches on on all platforms.
Read the Amiga Tech report for a good summary of the expectations
for the first NG Amiga machines which they are calling their MCC
(Multimedia Convergence Computer) and which is but one of a plethoria
of planned products.
Still no official word on the processor yet except guarded hints and
statements that we "should be pleased". Scuttlebut and a very few
pieces of circumstantial evidence indicate that the new TransMeta
processor is a very good possibility. If so, WHOOPEEEEE!!!
If you haven't heard, the NG OS/OE kernal has been changed from QNX
(which is good, and ready) to Linux which is ready, but not yet good enough
for Amiga. I believe the decision was a good one as Linux has several
thousand excellent programmers working on it and it will soon surpass QNX.
Also, arrangements are being made to fit it (the kernal) for Amigas needs
and Linus Thorvalds himselfe is working on the TransMeta processor
(presumably to help optimise it for the Linux kernel and vise-versa.
Actually, things are looking up for both the present generation Amigas
and the NG Amigas. A present generation Amiga with a fast PPC processor
and the efficient Amiga 3.1 + OS will stomp on anything wintel or Mac
have to offer. Amigas no longer need to be under powered, and it is now
cheaper to beef up an Amiga with a fast processor and graphics card than
to buy a new Mac or wintel OF EQUAL QUALITY. The free and nearly free
wintels don't count. I have (unfortunatly) been exposed to them and they
are TROUBLESOME, LOW QUALITY JUNK, with both compatability problems and
reliability problems. I regularly use and set up (and curse at) all types
of wintel machines and the latest Macs, and I can say without reservation
that you are better off sticking with the Amigas if you are willing to put
the money in them that you would put into buying something else. It pisses
me off to see how many people have complained that it costs money to
upgrade an Amiga, so they turn around and spend even more money to get
something else, which they soon have to upgrade also.
An Amiga with a good processor and graphics card and some ram and
hard-drive space IS A BETTER MACHINE than the alternatives, and there is
no need to pine for software because some of the best productivity
software made is for the Amiga, and emulating a Mac on the Amiga is both
efficient and effective. Forget windoze, you don't want that trash anyway!
Any software you need is available for the Amiga and/or the Mac (on Amiga).
"Aha," you say, "what about games?" Well, things are looking up somewhat,
but there are still a million games which aren't on the Amiga. How many
thousand of them are you planning on buying? ;) OK! It's up to US to
do something about it (the Amiga programmers). Not to mention all the
usefull little utilities and stuff we like to make. People are being
cautiously more hopefull now, and if we respond, it will grow. Amiga have
been highly encouraging people to upgrade their machines and many are.
Now, let's show them our stuff!! The main thing we Blitzers need is access
to PPC programing, and Fred (bless his heart) is actively working on that!
The official language of the NG Amigas will be C++ (basically unchanged
from the present generation) along with Java for network objects. But
there is still a need for a more strait-forward language like Blitz.
Fred has promised to consider that as well, so let's all be as helpfull
to him as we can in every way that he can use.
So... don't give up the ship!!! After all, whatever you do will be
portable one way or the other, and with the path that is being taken I
believe we can expect MUCH larger markets in the future. Everything Amiga
are doing is aimed at precisely that goal. It is NOT the stodgy, bloated
applications popular (because people don't know any better) now on other
platforms which will be the money-makers of the future, but rather the
immaginative, inovative and clean applications achievable only by those
who can think for themselves which will be the big wave of the future.
The big house of cards is about to come crashing down, and when it
does, we Amigans (along with Linux people and a few other free-thinkers)
will be left standing atop the rubble like monuments to determination, with
squared shoulders and bulging muscles ready to build the REAL dream castles!
Bill Gates was once like us, but he sold out to greed and power and now has
much money but no real friends. I say it is possible to be successful and
still have friends if you are fair, thoughtful and intelligent. New
oppertunities are about to open up in the electronics age. Don't miss them.
Resist the dark side Luke. May the force be with you... ;)
cacha later,
Donovan Reeve (bubby.lnk@ispi.net)
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