What still makes Amiga superior today?

[EDanaII]

You know, I don't, ordinarily, get into these kind of threads, let alone start one, but recent events got me to thinking -- always a bad start.

My main machine has, at present, 3 OSes installed on it. I ultimately intend to install a few more (like AROS) just for giggles and fun. Recently, that machine died and I had to replace it. The new machine came with Windows already installed, but, of course, I had to figure out how to get those two additional OSes on it. Naturally, I shrunk XP down to a specific size to make room. Then created the correct partitions for the two other OSes and copied images of them into place. But, ironically, they wouldn't boot anymore. As best I could figure, the partition information had changed, and, therefore, the OSes were trying to run off their old partition IDs. I placed them on the drive, in the exact same order, but, somehow, they were not the same.

So, that got me thinking about the Amiga's RDB, which stores logical information about the drive. Had something like that been in place, I doubt anything would have gotten screwed up. At least, in that way.

This, of course, got me to thinking about the good ol' assign command, which also allows you to move applications effortlessly from one drive to another. No reinstall, just a quick couple of keystrokes, and you're back in business.

Also, as I understand it, not 100% necessary, as the Amiga also (someone correct me if I'm wrong) stores directory IDs rather than names, so that if I rename a directory, the system stills knows what to point to if it changes.   

All of these made the machine so much easier to use, with less hair-pulling over all.

But that's not why I started this thread. I'm starting it to see what other things made the system a bliss to use that appear to be unmatched by other operating systems today. Please feel free to state, and argue, your thoughts on the subject. I'd like to hear all thoughts.

Ed.

[Matt_H]

So, that got me thinking about the Amiga's RDB, which stores logical information about the drive. Had something like that been in place, I doubt anything would have gotten screwed up. At least, in that way.

I love the RDB. It's brilliantly simple. Create a partition, name it, set a boot priority. Done. Every time I need to screw around with partitions on a PC I want to tear my hair out. I can't wait for the day that computer experts realize that the MBR standard is complete crap.

This, of course, got me to thinking about the good ol' assign command, which also allows you to move applications effortlessly from one drive to another. No reinstall, just a quick couple of keystrokes, and you're back in business.

I suppose assigns are handy for IPC Rexx scripts, but I'd much rather programs used PROGDIR: to reference their own directories. Then you don't even need to change anything when moving. Unless the program dumped files into Libs:...

Not sure if 68K and OS4 do this as well, but MorphOS queries a zillion different directories if looking for a .library: Libs:, PROGDIR:, PROGDIR:Libs, etc. It's brilliant. That way, if a program uses extremelyspecificonlyusedbythisoneprogram.library, you can dump it in the program's own directory instead of cluttering up Libs:. It makes system maintenance much easier.

Also, as I understand it, not 100% necessary, as the Amiga also (someone correct me if I'm wrong) stores directory IDs rather than names, so that if I rename a directory, the system stills knows what to point to if it changes.

Sort of. If I've got MyProgram: assigned to dh0:apps/myprogram/ and then rename myprogram/ to myprogram.old/, the MyProgram: assign will continue to work for that session. If you reboot, the assignment in user-startup will fail because the myprogram/ directory no longer exists.


My own personal favorite feature is Save, Use, Cancel. I'm not aware of any other system that lets you experiment with changes in settings without making them permanent. Ubuntu doesn't even have a Cancel option for many settings - everything gets changed on the fly, so too bad if you screwed something up by mistake.

[Christian Johansson]

Datatypes was a good idea imo.

[persia]

It silly to compare an '80s OS with an '00 OS.  OS's today have different demands and run on far more powerful equipment.  We're all here because we like the retro look and feel, it's fun.  The Amiga lost the superior title a decade or more ago.  

It's a hobby, it makes me happy because it takes me back to my Uni days, before I had the weight of running an IT department, raising a family of my own, mortgage, car payments etc, etc.  It's a simpler time in my life.

I turn on my Amiga and I'm back at Uni and those two Japanese girls I met at Uni are, well, ummm, well that's another story....lost in memories here.....

[AeroMan]

You can't really say that Amiga is superior today, because it has 15 years of development lag.
But good ideas are timeless. The Amiga still have some that I think are really good. For example:

-It is small and fast. I always remember that when check the amount of disk space and RAM required by Windows...
Compare the speed of alt+tab with Amiga+M. It hurts me to see screens being drawn.

-Multiple screens and screen dragging. It is still cool and useful

-Screens bigger than your monitor. I always need space to put my windows  :-)

-Datatypes  :-)

-Directory organization is clear. No mess in windows\system

-There is no registry. I hate that !!! It is the perfect tool to hide adwares and to slow down your machine

-There are no extensions. File type is built in.

-Preferences. Everything is there. There are no hidden controls.

-Autoconfig. They did an amazing job in plug and play, but from times to times you face the "where is the driver" problem.

-Big Icons

-Two joysticks :-)

[Tenacious]

You guys covered most of it.  I would add the Ram disk: and RAD:.  


I especially appreciate how the Amiga is not "modern".  Some (in previous forums) have argued that Amiga is outdated because it lacks this or that feature of modern OSes.  In my mind, Amiga is the sole occupant of it's own branch of the evolutionary tree. That branch is not outdated because much of it was never improved upon, nor are the concepts inferior simply because most of the world was sold a different choice.  I feel marketing forces moved computing to a different branch and have largely determined what a modern computer is.

Anyone can buy and use a modern computer (I have them, too), there are only a few thousand Amiga users in the world.  We lucky few.  "..other computer users hold their manhoods cheap.."

Oops, I got radical again (sorta reads like Henry V, grin).


EDIT:  The only modern features I would add to my Amiga experience are: CSS, USB, a broader selection of video codecs, and DVDs.  Some of this can had by simply upgrading my hardware.

[Cammy]

My Amiga makes me happy.
My PC makes me angry.

So the Amiga is superior because it is a better friend than a PC.

[HopperJF]

Would be quite hard to implement on the open hardware of the PC platform but I always thought SysInfo was an excellent program to compare yourself to your friends and bully them how much faster your A1200 with 030 is faster than there A500  :-D  although it was never a part of the Amiga bundle.

I also think that the built-in PCMCIA slot was a risk at the time but has paid off alot now with users using them to network and so on... the slow RAM idea was good in theory but doesn't hold up today (unfortunately MS still seem to think excessive VM is a lifesaver)

One thing that Amiga got wRONG in my opinion is the media. They stuck with DD long after HD disks were the main media in the market. If they released the A1200 with a HD disk drive and put the software on HD disks then it would have made a big difference in the amount of disk swapping and so on (less disks) and also they should have released the A4000 with optional CD-ROM drive and the A1200 CD add-on, nevermind  :-(

OK, back to the positive stuff. I think another great thing about the Amiga was the OS in general - it was slim, light, fast, something that Windows will NEVER be because MS's whole ethos on developing is completely wrong. Bloated software then wait for hardware to catch up (repeat until infinity)  :-P

And I've said it before and I'll say it again, the wedge design is awesome  8-)

[Varthall]

Luckily AmigaOS is now in a much better situation that it was 15 year ago: reworked to run on newer hardware, native USB support, large hard drives support, new and faster memory handling, support for easier ports of software from Linux, improved GUI etc. It still lacks in certain areas though, like printing, virtual memory, Java support etc.

What I find in AmigaOS unmatched in other OSes is its ease of use: system files are easily recognizable, the OS doesn't hide its elements to the user like in Windows, yet they aren't as cryptic and messy as in Linux.

Varthall

[ami_junki]

I would have to say the windows management, seems much easier, i hate clicking once on a window and it comes to the front, the way hard disks are handled, ram disk being visible as an icon, libs, devs, storage, the way how u can add drivers into the devs and take them out, the system still feels modern in the way it operates.  draggable screens are still a wonder to me and i get frustrated when working on the mac or pc when i can`t do it.  the amiga is still modern in many ways, amazing really for such an old os.

btw anyone still interested in free yourname@amigalife.com email addresses there are a few available still  8-)

[Hodgkinson]

I'd also say that the size and speed of the OS is one of the big advantages. You can turn the A1200 in the sig on and any PC that we have and it will cut swathes through the boot time of the PC. Mind you though, installing SquirrelSCSI has slowed things down quite a bit recently.

However (Sorry about this being negative), but one thing that is frustrating is the lack/expensive nature of the hardware. Yeah, all of us suffer from this problem, but it just occurred to me the other day when upgrading the XP machine. Just plug in a few more IDE drives and the odd PCI card. Done. As for the A1200, I also like the wedge design, but both the case size and the provisions on the mainboard make adding extra hardware difficult. I've often wondered whether to add extra external HDD's and 5.25" drives to the A1200, but this means extra power and space requirements, and this goes in contradiction to one of the main reasons for using the A1200 in the first place - No bulky tower or desktop machine. Yet, a tower or desktop machine is the best option for piling additional H/W into.

Heh, just one of life's little dilemmas. :-D

[Crumb]

What still makes Amiga superior today? -> It can run "Sanity's ARTE" natively.

[Roj]

Most Amiga users are tech-savvy, and it takes a lot more effort to hide sneak-ware that makes the computer do things the user doesn't want their computer doing. This is also true of Linux, but there it is just the same.

Simplicity can be a feature can't it? Come to think of it, I sorta miss my TRS-80.

[cecilia]

Cammy wrote:
My Amiga makes me happy.
My PC makes me angry.

So the Amiga is superior because it is a better friend than a PC.

totally agree

My friend loaned me his AmigaOne so I could use it to make demonstations for our Amiga Group. I needed to communicate with other Amiga users so i installed WookieChat and it WORKED immediately. I tried installing Wet (just to try it) and it Worked Immediately. I didn't have to worry about messing anything up like I do with wiindows. I repeated this with several other programs......

the system is fast, repsonsive and FUN!!! just too darn Fun!

and that will never stop being true!

[Tricky]

Very simply: it doesn't take several minutes to boot up and shut down!
And it still seems just as fast as my PC for everyday tasks, despite it being about 1/100th as powerful.