Public Release of MorphOS 2.5 & Introduction of eMac Support

[takemehomegrandma]

For the curious Amiga users that just want to check out MorphOS, they can now buy a very cheap G4 eMac (if they are lucky they might find one for less than $50 US dollars, or even for free) and then download the demo version of MorphOS2.5 that runs without any restrictions for approx. 30 minutes, then slows down, until they decide if they want to buy the MorphOS license key.

Which is available for 111,11 EUR now btw.

The temporary discount of the OS is worth ~$48 USD if I count correctly, meaning that (if you are lucky) you *may* be able to buy both a complete G4 computer system (yes *complete*, since even the monitor is built-in) and a fully registered copy of MorphOS for *less* than you had to pay for the OS alone yesterday!

Wow!

[takemehomegrandma]

@LoadWB

I haven't used MorphOS since about v1.4 or so, but I can say even back then it was amazing. I can only imagine how good it is now. I gotta see what I can do to raise some $$$ to buy a key before the sale ends.

The 1.4 -> 2.0 was a giant leap in many *fundamental* areas!

And you can browse the release notes of what has happened in the updates that has followed ever since:

1.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.1 -> 2.2 -> 2.3 -> 2.4 -> 2.5

As anyone who takes the time to read through those links can see, one shouldn't be fooled by the tiny +0.1 increases in version numbers. Sure, there lots of minor fixes and improvements in them, but a lot of *completely new* features has been introduced as well!

And all +0.1 releases has been completely free of charge to registered users!

[takemehomegrandma]

Are they still charging VAT to non-VAT countries?  :confused:

No, rather a 19% higher price for the product itself!

[takemehomegrandma]

just one question, if I buy MorphOS and I like it and want to buy a Mac mini instead, can I then discard the OS on the eMac and use the license on the Mac mini? Wihout any additional charge if I can prove im not using it on the eMac anymore?

No.

The license is tied to the hardware, not to you.

You can however sell the hardware with the registered OS bundled, and recover money for a new registration that way.

[takemehomegrandma]

Really?  Well, that settles my curiosity.  When it supports an Apple product I would be interested in owning I may reconsider.

Just out of curiosity - is it the PowerMac or PowerBook you would prefer the most?

Personally, I have always dreamed of a *laptop* running my favorite OS and applications!

(And BTW (directed towards the MorphOS team), my Voucher idea was seriously meant. The MorphOS team would get money now, and customers would be able to enjoy the Special Anniversary Price! A win-win IMHO! )

[takemehomegrandma]

Either or.  Anything "pro" and at least G4 and preferrably G5.  It doesn't sound like the G5 is planned on being supported though.

Personally, I am *extremely* happy with my "silent upgrade" Mac Mini 1.5GHz G4. And I haven't even registered my MorphOS as of yet (but I will surely do so at the current discount price!)

The license being tied to the machine is the biggest issue.  This forces the issue if the old beater mac I picked up to run an OS that costs almost as much as Windows 7 goes south, I get to sink money into it for repair as opposed to go getting another cheap mac to replace it.

If your registered hardware dies, and you can prove it (you discuss this with the MorphOS team directly as your personal unique situation arises), you will get a new keyfile for your new hardware! A kind of "warranty". This has been discussed a lot over at MorphZone.org, look there if you don't believe me (I don't have any links, but you could always ask MZ's living webcrawler Andreas_Wolf about it ).

It's handled manually on a case to case basis, and so far I haven't heard of any problems whatsoever about this.

[takemehomegrandma]

The eMac support is great for me, since its a affordable choice for me to try the OS out
To bad it only supports the 1,25GHz revisions since a friend of mine could give me a 1,42 rev :/

Says who ? MorphOS does support these atleast by Apple's system-ID, so it will atleast boot.
MorphOS also supports Radeon9600s, just only as 2D.

So burn that CD, visit your friend and give it a try.....

Indeed! Kronos definitely has a point here!

The MorphOS 2.5 release notes clearly says:

"eMac support for 1.25 GHz models (1.42 GHz eMac models have not been tested)"

This is probably just due to the fact that nobody had access to test it on such a system!

So I would really *encourage you* to follow Kronos' suggestion to burn a CD and try it out if you have access to one!

And then of course come back here and tell us all about how/if it worked!

[takemehomegrandma]

@kolla

Well, this has been discussed a great deal over at MZ.org ever since the policy was revealed two years(!) ago. And for the record, before reading any further, you should know that I haven't been the greatest supporter of the policy myself...

But there is a flip side to every coin. Like this:

Hyperion is worrying to death that their OS4 for a certain platform will be pirated. They worry to *such a degree*, that they lock in the OS into some combo with obscure hardware so that nobody can get a hold it without buying the HW at the same time. The downside of this is that the only OS4 available HW is obscure, rare, untried (compared to *mainstream* Mac HW), and most of all *extremely expensive* for the performance it offers.

And this is the main reason to why OS4 isn't available for cheap, powerful, well-tried and proved Mac PPC HW. Because of their chosen licensing scheme! There was some "Moana" project going (I have the files here, like so many others), it was very promising (as proven today by MorphOS), but they never went ahead with it. "It would only get pirated..."

The MorphOS team however, offers free download of the *full* OS. Heck, they would probably *be glad* if someone would bother to make a .torrent out of it, since that would offload their servers/bandwith a bit. Spread it freely! Try it out for free! On *any* PPC Mac Hardware (soon)! PPC Mac HW is available everywhere! And it's a *full* version of the OS, you can use it without *any other* limitation than it slows down to an un-usable level after about 30 minutes. To prevent this single one limitation, you purchase a license for your machine of choice!

While I recognize the same down sides as you do kolla, I must say that the MorphOS way (with Mac HW support and free download) beats the OS4 way by a magnitude.

My biggest objection to the MorphOS licensing scheme is that there aren't any discounts for multiple licenses. I have 4 machines that are perfectly able to run MorphOS 2.5. And there is a reason to why I have only one keyfile for one of my Pegasos2's. I will get one for my Mac Mini though. That's for sure!

As if that is any of their business.

It will be "their business" if you want to take advantage of the "warranty" built into the licensing scheme. If your HW breaks down, you discuss this with the MorphOS team, and you will get a new key file for your new HW.

This hardware locking is pure nonsense and number one reason to not register.

Well, it's the way they have chosen to build their system. I'm not going to argue with you about it; take it or leave it (and it's the same for myself and everyone else). The reason to why I took it (for my only registered machine so far) is because:

MorphOS is the fastest NG OS.
MorphOS is the most Amiga compatible NG OS.
MorphOS has the best NG features and functionality of the NG OS's; it's the most competent OS, period!
MorphOS currently runs on the fastest PPC hardware that any Amiga Program has come in contact with. *Mainstream* and readily available hardware!
MorphOS runs on the *best priced* hardware, and definitely with the best bang-for-the-buck ratio! This will be true even if some undefined "X1000" hardware would materialize.

Simply put: "MorphOS is Amiga done right! "

And you can try it for free!

[takemehomegrandma]

And piracy? Copying to friends computer? Get real, it might have been a problem 10 years ago, these days hardly anyone _want_ MorphOS in the first place, it's an oddity, like anything Amiga these days.

"Nobody wants MorphOS, like anything Amiga these days"; hehe, well, in some kind of way, you sound like one of the last few diluted persons that not until recently believed that anything *miga "had a chance to 'rule the world'."

And, no, not "copying to friends computer".

Take a look at the "MorphOS registration thread" (the one counting serial numbers of keyfile registrations, can't recall what the correct title is) over at MZ.org. While the number's indeed aren't that great, and hasn't impressed anyone but that "ssolie"-guy who suddenly felt a bizarre need to flood MZ with posts about potential fortunes made out of a few hundred registrations (there is no real market after all), and while obviously no-one can't possibly make a living out of it, it's still a fact that the project does have costs that needs to be covered, and some people (myself included) obviously wants MorphOS badly enough *to pay* what they ask for it.

Are you telling me that you can't see the impact of a full, *no time-restricted version* of MorphOS (able to run on any (soon) Mac HW) being uploaded to pirate bay? IMHO you could deduct about 600 registrations of that *current* sum right away...

Anyways, I suspect it wont be long before the need to register vanishes entirely, I doubt very much there will that many new registrations with 2.5 (on worse hardware) and reduced price.

You are only deceiving yourself if you believe that there is any kind of *market* (by the definition of the word) around anything "Amiga" at this point. And personally I think they will get more registrations thanks to the *price reduction* rather than the additional HW support (although the latter will certainly contribute as well! .

And it's not "worse" HW, it's *a wider scope of HW options*! Big difference!

The ultimate goal is obviously to cover *all* Mac G4 platforms, one at a time. It just happened that the eMac was covered before the PowerMac and PowerBook. But you can already today choose *Mac Mini*, which in many aspects will be a more powerful HW than the eMac.

But not as cheap! And price is also a feature! And when it comes to consumer products, it's often *the most important* feature...!

[takemehomegrandma]

I might have a handfull of friends who have G4 minimac, and none of them have bothered to download MorphOS - why would they?

If none of your Mac friends are interested in Amiga, then of course you are right - why would they?

It's not like the MorphOS team is out to conquer the world. Did you really think so?

Honestly?

EDIT: BTW, Will your Mac friends buy the new 1,500-2,000 EUR "X1000" + the OS4 fee? Why? Why not? Do you see my point?

[takemehomegrandma]

While I recognize the same down sides as you do kolla, I must say that the MorphOS way (with Mac HW support and free download) beats the OS4 way by a magnitude.

I dont see the point in comparing OS4 and MorphOS, that is not the issue here.

There are basically two ways the teams could have gone regarding the issue you want to discuss here kolla (and I described them above);

The way OS4 team went...

...and the way the MorphOS team went!

There are pros and cons to them both. I, however, believe that the MorphOS did the right choice as opposed to the OS4 team, for the reasons I explained above.