How much would it cost to port AmigaOS to x64?

[Iggy]

It would cost the combined salaries of every programmer on the project for as long as it takes to complete it, plus overhead/administrative costs...

That's the best answer so far.

[dammy]

OS4 needs to remain PPC.

[Duce]

No valid reason for OS4 to go to commodity hardware.  The market isn't there - niche OS's are free/open source on commodity hardware, Hyperion would have no business model.

It's be just another offshoot hobby OS that could once make a meager earning on the PPC side that is now on commodity HW where there's a plethora of free OS'es for every niche market.  Another OS I'd have to run an emulation layer on to run legacy software.  Why should I run OS4 x86 vs. AROS, vs. UAE/Amikit/Amithlon?

There is also the fact a small team could never support the vast range of PC hardware.  This is the same problem that hampers AROS.  A small team cannot support every chip made for a mobo, or every gfx card released in the last 10 years.  The same reason Apple locks hardware to software - no ****ty coded 3rd party drivers on core HW.  Same reason MS doesn't do drivers themselves and why they have WHQL.

I'd love to run AROS, but it simply doesn't run on the hardware I own.  AROS for SAM 440 is absolutely unfunctional.  That being said, I don't expect a hobby OS to support my dual 590 GTX's.  Either would OS4.

Now OS4 for PPC Mac, that's something I could go to bat for.

[ChaosLord]

How much would it cost to port AmigaOS to x64?

For $639 Million US Dollars I will install WinUAE + AmigaOS on your x64 machine.

Because I am such a nice guy I will let you keep the other million for yourself. :crazy:

[Iggy]

OS4 needs to remain PPC.

Why? Afraid it might make it into a C?USA system?
You can be one weird dude.

[Digiman]

So, since I'm hoping beyond hope to win the 640 Million Mega Million Jackpot tonight, does anyone out there have a good idea of what it would cost to port/recode AmigaOS 4.x to run on x64 processors? I'd really love to see my beloved AmigaOS running on completely modern hardware.

On top of that how much would it take to fund a driver initiative to keep support for modern video cards, sound chipset, network chipsets, printers, scanners, etc.

Will Amiga Inc or Hyperion allow you to?

I have highlighted the most expensive part, actually there is no single edition of Windows supported everything AND it is what makes it partly so useless and bloated.

Solution? Simple, lock the hardware for x86 Amiga to just 3 specifications initially. Low/medium/high spec of CPU/MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET/GPU/SPU/NETWORK/IO Controller.

eg i7+most powerful GPU+most popular 7.1 digital audio, gigabit ethernet, best motherboard.

This will result in a very tightly coded responsive OS. Job done. You could do it via an Amithlon type HAL that natively runs OS4.2 PPC code via emulation  coded for 602/603 CPU

So there you have it

1 lock the spec to 3 machines (about 15 drivers required)
2 write a PPC emulator to run OS4 initially
3 give free upgrade to x86 native version later
4 get blitz basic 3D, chrome/opera/firefox, VLC and open office ported to it Asap

Simple

[Argo]

Will Amiga Inc or Hyperion allow you to?

Given the fantasy of having won the $640 Million Megaball Lottery, if you can't buy Hyperion and/or Amiga,Inc. something weird is going on? That should solve any legal issues for the port.

[dreamcast270mhz]

It obviously costs too much of Hyperion's time, as there is yet to be any signs of it. I think AROS serves that field already, lets leave the others to their own cuppa tea shall we? I have no desire to see it, because I can see this happening with OS4:

• OS4 offers very little over OS X, Windows, Linux or any other alternative OS for the average computer user, plus the fact it is a paid for OS, means it will flop in the market, as it is over-saturated.
• Then, the lack of money means the developers will be unable to pay themselves, causing massive delays in hardware support, ported applications and such.  
• This will doom its chances of being among the norm. In other words, it benefits nobody in the long term

I think that custom hardware is part of the appeal, personally, to most users of the OS. I think its best chance is for it to be solicited to a game system manufacturer such as MS, Nintendo, etc. and having them use it as a base for a computer/game system/media system hybrid

[Middleman]

So, since I'm hoping beyond hope to win the 640 Million Mega Million Jackpot tonight, does anyone out there have a good idea of what it would cost to port/recode AmigaOS 4.x to run on x64 processors? I'd really love to see my beloved AmigaOS running on completely modern hardware.

On top of that how much would it take to fund a driver initiative to keep support for modern video cards, sound chipset, network chipsets, printers, scanners, etc.

Ok Trolls, I know the first answer you'll give is more than it's worth and the second is why would I want it without the custom chips it's not a real Amiga. So why not skip it and dream a long with me. I have millions to spend and just for fun, why not dream a long with me to be able to see AmigaOS running on almost any modern box out there with custom UAE support for running old applications.

That would be...a dream!



Ignoring the Titanic part.....we seriously wouldn't want it all to go down now would we?

[Middleman]

I think that custom hardware is part of the appeal, personally, to most users of the OS. I think its best chance is for it to be solicited to a game system manufacturer such as MS, Nintendo, etc. and having them use it as a base for a computer/game system/media system hybrid

Interesting point....I've thought about that before too. You wonder if new Amiga hardware should be part of some sort of hybrid or god forbid, even a new console....

[Duce]

AmigaOS on a gaming console would do nothing for anyone, tbh - and the thought of it ever happening is even more foreign than the concept of winning the lottery as per the OP's post.

Sorry - MS, Sony, or Nintendo aren't chomping at the bit to get their hands on a niche OS that only old guys and turbonerds care about anymore, lol.
I love the Amiga, but I'm not delusional that I think it's even a blip on the radar to modern computer users.

There's a difference between optimism and enthusiasm, which is a sort of a "what if?  that would be neat!" concept, and actual real world realism that something if ultimately practical.

I use the comparison of Amiga emulators on mobile devices.  Neat for 5 minutes, then the practicality of it kicks in and it is realized that practicality wins out.  I'm all for doing things just to see if they can be done, but in the end most things are just novelties, IMHO.

[Nlandas]

So there you have it

1 lock the spec to 3 machines (about 15 drivers required)
2 write a PPC emulator to run OS4 initially
3 give free upgrade to x86 native version later
4 get blitz basic 3D, chrome/opera/firefox, VLC and open office ported to it Asap

Simple

I like the strategy, a stepping stone approach. I'm amazed at the number of people who have zero interest in AmigaOS running on anything other than expensive or low end PPC hardware or AROS, which is nice but is what based on 3.1. I guess to each their own I use all of the "modern" OSs on a fairly regular basis, one by force only. I like some things about them but would still be interested in running AmigaOS on x86 instead.

Personally, I'd like to see how it could evolve if it had a small market or some backer with deep pockets that just wanted to fund something fun.

[hardware geek]

If one could get the playstation 4 proposed motherboards for one owns use. It supposed to be amd cpu and south islands gpu with ppc cpu. you could have ppc for current os and x64 for future os at a low price. But I doubt sony would let it have any abilty to run their code ps4 games.

[commodorejohn]

I haven't heard anything about the PS4 including a PPC chip, and given that there's explicitly no backwards compatibility, there's no reason for it to include one.

[hardware geek]

read it here-http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/04/the-x86-playstation-4-signals-a-sea-change-in-the-console-industry.ars

[Nlandas]

• OS4 offers very little over OS X, Windows, Linux or any other alternative OS for the average computer user, plus the fact it is a paid for OS, means it will flop in the market, as it is over-saturated.

I for one use those OSs regularly and would love to have OS4 native on hardware that I could readily buy. Even if it's limited to specific models or video cards, sound cards, etc. I certainly would expect the market to be big but it depends on what the developers could do with it and setting it up as a platform to run classic Amiga applications.

• Then, the lack of money means the developers will be unable to pay themselves, causing massive delays in hardware support, ported applications and such.  
• This will doom its chances of being among the norm. In other words, it benefits nobody in the long term

I would think that someone with $400 million after taxes might just be able to fund development for quite some time without expecting a profit from it other than just enjoying the product. Might be silly to some but I've seen wealth wasted on things that I would consider far more frivolous

I think that custom hardware is part of the appeal, personally, to most users of the OS. I think its best chance is for it to be solicited to a game system manufacturer such as MS, Nintendo, etc. and having them use it as a base for a computer/game system/media system hybrid

I hear that a lot. I do understand the mindset as the custom chips were what made the Amiga so advanced for the time. Certainly a classic Amiga will always be that combination of custom hardware and unique low overhead operating system. However, in this day and age, exactly what custom hardware would make a computer that unique with the amount of raw processor power that is available in CPU and GPU today. What remains for me of Amiga other than UAE and my A1200HD for my classic fix, today is the operating system, which still remains unique in its overhead and design. I know that modern OS's have advanced in other ways, memory protection, etc. However, I find it interesting that we have two main branches of OS to choose from Unix->Linux/BSD or VMS->NT.

   I guess I'm alone, at least in those who still frequent amiga.org and are primarily into Amiga as it remains towards the end on ppc. That isn't meant as criticism but I just guess I'd love to run AmigaOS native on readily available hardware or even a subset of it.