By having an OS only available to abandoned hardware (classic & A1 lines), you have a ZERO chance of expanding the userbase/market.
By saying something like WINUAE or E-UAE can expand the market, it's a farce as people just use that to play games and really only if they have roms (legally or otherwise). Only current classic owners by "new" classic software to transfer to .adf to run on a faster WinUAE machine... How many casual users are going to pick up a Catweasel? No, it's just current classic hardware owners who want to abandon their slow classic hardware.
By porting to a simple piece of hardware with an installed base in the millions (Wii, 360, eventually PS3), you have a POTENTIAL to grow the platform. Now by platform, I mean
new Amiga platform, be it AROS or OS4.
To hell with backwards compatibility. It's a bane and we already have UAE for that. What most people mean is interoperability. To hell with it. Why do I want to run 20 year old applications
not designed to take advantage of better hardware. I repeat - we already have UAE. If you want to take advantage of old data, make conversion programs for old data files to open in new modern apps.
Linux has grown (slowly) because it's ported 100% and available for download. Can't do that with anything Amiga so easily. So no potential for growth.
I don't even care what hardware platform a new Amiga is based on. I'll buy it just because it exists. Let me be clear on something else. I don't care because if anyone who was to make such a future OS has a real clue, they would make applications run off an intermediate language that doesn't care about EDIAN-ness or instruction set. Only core hardware drivers and kernal need be compiled... Just have an efficient common runtime interpreter and apps will run on x86, Freescale, PPC, Coldfire. End of freaking "wah this hardware is better" B.S. and just run what you got.
If you want to run an "amiga os" on a 300Mhz Coldfire or 500Mhz Freescale chip, that's your own issue, but atleast it would run...
Now some of you "oh look, another Lou Dias" trolls want to run your mouth. However, since my "ppc real cheap" thread, I have opened up a website to cater to CONSOLE modders and have been making money. There is a huge market for it and business is picking up and I(we) have been profitable for several months now after starting it with a friend just over 10 months ago (though I did it on my own for 4 months prior and profitable). So continue to raid anyone trying to cross those bridges if it gives you true satisfaction in your lives.
PS,
Chilli Unlock Kits for the 360 are now in stock @
www.gameparts.biz
