There are interesting MorphOS news about the future coming from "Alchimie 111111"!
Video -> http://www.meta-morphos.org/download/morphos3.avi
General News:
- Support the PowerBook G4 (models 5.6 to 5.9).
- Transfers AGP platforms supporting it (macs).
- Drivers WiFi and integration with the TCP / IP: Altheros5000, Airport.
- Drivers SATA and SCSI (Symbios) function on PowerMac G4.
- Faster 3D Drivers (VBO), more complete support r300 (Radeon 9500 to 9800);
- Integration Layer Firewire Helios,
- Improved systems components: MUI, Ambient, Multiview, HDConfig, mount.library ...
- New applications: FTP / SFTP, software CD / DVD, new PDF reader, Text Editor modern
- File System: NTFS3G (writing material), SMBFS (64 bits), SSHFS (SFTP transparent), ICEF, ...
News related to the PowerBook:
- Touchpad and gestures (scroling, right ,...).
- Specifics on the keyboard (Fn, brightness keys ,...).
- Support for various graphic tiles (15 ", 17" and variations ...).
- Port Cardbus (PCMCIA).
- Drivers Atheros5k (via Cardbus) Airport.
- Layer WPA/WPA2 (wpa_supplicant) in collaboration with AROS.
- Monitoring of sensors, fan speed, battery level, temperature, ...
- 3D Driver R300 (Radeon 9700 for PowerBook).
- Management of controlled energy components and sensors based on user preferences (processor speed, low power mode of the graphics card, disable the modem, network, brightness, backlight keyboard, power down the hard disk. ..).
System components:
- Ambient: a transparent panel, under docks and plugins, video thumbnails, ...
- MUI: effect of disabling improved rendering of part of the active object configurable Arrange tab, ...
- Multiview: integration of more new features and formats.
- HDConfig / mount.library: better management of mac partition tables.
- Cairo / Pixman / Fontconfig provided with the system.
- MagicBeacon: visual notifications on different types of events (new mail, download finished, dvd inserted ,...), highly configurable.
- Grunch: package manager.
LinkNote that not all of what was mentioned there will be part of MorphOS 3.
0, (
the presentation was about 3.x, not 3.0 in particular)
Still, this is for sure a (incomplete - there is more!) mighty list of mighty features, adding to an *already* mighty feature list!
But the news doesn't end there!
Ok, I'll give it a shot... not a 100% accurate translation but you'll get the main ideas.
"Et Apres" slide:
- Make Morphos portable (64 bits), integration in a VM for dev and test.
- Architecture choice : X64 ? , ARM ?
- Compatibility PPC and 68K ?
Speech:
For now, we concentrate on the few Apple models that are available. So: Powerbook and potentially Power Mac G5, we'll see if it's worth to support them or not.
Once we're done with that, we'll look into an architecture change, either X64 or ARM, whatever is interesting when we get there, which should take a few years.
Meanwhile, we get into the 64 bit compatibility to prepare the ground.
We will make it run in a virtual machine, a bit like AROS. That's for development [...] so that we can start working on it without having a machine available yet.
So yes indeed, within a few years, we will change the architecture.
The problem related to this (change of architecture) is that the PPC & 68K compatibility will likely be lost.
It may be reintroduced later by writing emulators for these 2 processors.
But it will require time... and will it be really interesting since most of the applications are now native and we have control over them ? It remains to be seen.
Morphos 3 will be free for users already registered and upgrading.
Those who buy a powerbook will have to buy a license for it.
Also, there will be a change in the pricing.
Older machines like Powermac, Mac Mini and Pegasos will see a little reduction in the license price... a little less.
Question, in the audience, about ameliorating the QBox (I couldn't hear the whole question)
Reply :
The QBox is a recent kernel that can, in theory, support SMP, Memory protection, and other modern concepts. The problem is that AmigaOS, due to its API, does not allow to implement these concepts. Any application requiring memory protection would not be compatible, because the architecture of AmigaOS relies on sharing memory access.
Any application can access another application's memory (space)....
The QBox is the kernel and the Abox, which is what allows to run all what we see here, is only a process in Morphos.
The QBox is something wider that we haven't had time to develop since all the efforts have been directed toward the compatibility with AmigaOS and the applications running inside it (the ABox).
Will we have the ressources to develop the QBox more than what it is now?
We'll see... When the time comes for the architecture change, it's possible we look into it seriously. Right now, for the support of G4 and G5, it's not necessary.
On the long run...we'll see...
(
Link, highlights by me)
So what we have here, if all this is translated/relayed correctly, is *very* important news about the MorphOS future!
1) Immediate Future (a month or a few from today): MorphOS 3.0 will be released. This seems to become the biggest and most important MorphOS update ever? It will be a free upgrade for currently registered MorphOS users. It will introduce support for Powerbook laptops, and many other cool things that has been hinted above in this post, and in previous posts on various forums. License Fee may be lowered for some HW.
2) Intermediate Future (up to a few years after MorphOS 3.0): MorphOS 3.1, 3.2, ..., ..., etc, will be released, introducing stuff that didn't make it for MorphOS 3.0. The OS will continued to be developed on the PPC platform, really making the most out of it. Maybe they will support G5 Mac's, but that's far from a given, and some posts I have seen suggests otherwise. We will see.
3) Long Term Future (a few years from now): MorphOS has evolved as an OS on the PPC architecture since the beginning, and it has served its purpose. It will continue to evolve here for some time still with the 3.x branch. However, the PPC Platform for desktop and laptop systems is dead. It has been so since 2007. But the statement is now that MorphOS will *not* roll over and die because of this! No, when MorphOS has made the most out of the current PPC hardware, when it has supported all HW considered worth supporting,
it *WILL* migrate to a new, modern architecture that has a pulse! This also means improvements in many other ways (64-bit, perhaps they will look at improving the Q-box again, etc).
So with this, there seems to be a clear path into the future! The question marks that many have felt (given the PPC situation) is now straightened out to exclamation marks! MorphOS will continue to live on, it will continue to evolve, even when the current HW architecture is not!
This is very good news!