tl;dr warning
I imagine a fair number of users would be genuinely interested in OS 4 if support for the PPC Mac's was there. The cost of hardware for OS 4.1x in the form of anything still or soon to be manufactured (SAM, x1000) is a massive stumbling block. I don't ever see it happening, unfortunately. I'd love to be able to run Morph and OS4 on my PPC Mac, and vice versa on my SAM 440ep. Both are real nice OS's to use, and both HW platforms are quite nice despite the fact the modern computer community has passed them both by, spec wise in relation to the atypical Ghz wars on the PC side. Having a dual boot Morph/OS 4 rig would be a real treat for the community. I'd gladly invest in OS 4 for PPC Mac's.
I say that as a guy that was likely one of the first here to buy a SAM 440ep/OS 4, and I don't regret buying it at all even though I am fully aware most people find them excessively expensive for what they pack spec wise, on paper. Real hard to justify in dollars and cents terms.
In the grand scheme of things, adoption of OS 4 has stagnated due to expensive, specific hardware. This relatively low number of users due to said expensive HW has also caused a stagnantion in software development (see the Morph OWB vs. OS4 Timberwolf/Firefox debate).
It is very hard for me to recommend a SAM/OS4 system to someone looking for a "taste of a modern Amiga" for $1000 full built when a Mac Mini and MorphOS can be had for a couple hundred bucks, tops. MorphOS is a very nice OS to use on commodity PPC Mac's. Niche market HW like the x1000 and SAM's won't ever come down much, price wise. Limited run specialty boards are damned expensive to make, where as Mac's are very easy to come by for dirt cheap.
I use OS4 and MorphOS, and enjoy both greatly - but bang for buck goes to MorphOS by a wide margin. What you choose to use merely depends on your preference and your budget, to me. I have not regged MorphOS yet, since I would like to pick up a higher end Mac than this old basemodel Mini and licenses are not easily transferable, but will do so once I get a PPC Mac I consider a "keeper".
Just my 2 bits, there's room for everyone really - but there's no denying that OS4 would be used a heck of a lot more by the community if it ran on the old "surplus" PPC Mac's.
A very good explanation that I would bet applies to many users. Great post Duce!
Even people like me that dislike certain things about certain people within Hyperion, might consider buying a copy of OS4, if it ran on the G4 MacMini and/or the G4 PowerMacs. If Hyperion were smart, they would port OS4 to the G4 PowerBook (like the 17", 1.67GHz G4 that I am typing this on) and try to beat the MorphOS Dev. Team to a release for that platform. I can understand that the number of OS4 developers is limited to just a handful of coders that might only be able to write code during their spare time and that with the soon to be ready for beta testing X1000, there might not be enough programmers to also work both the X1000 port and another port to some G4 Mac model, but if there are enough programmers working on OS4 to split them up, working half on the X1000 and the other half on a port to one or more G4 (or better, a G5) Mac models, Hyperion should really consider doing that. It would gain them many more OS4 sales than the X1000 will ever earn for them. Having the largest user-base is a big advantage toward getting more OS4 software written by third party developers too.
I doubt that any of this is going to happen, so I don't mind writing these things down in a forum post, even when I am an avid MorphOS supporter.
