MorphOS 3.0 (3.1, etc) for PPC, then x64/ARM!

[takemehomegrandma]

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.

Link

Note 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!

[takemehomegrandma]

Many of those features will not be a part of 3.0, work on them is progressing.

Yet many of them *will*!

The slides from the presentation (was shown in Odyssey in its full screen mode : https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AY7XPx7zi4LBZGNicmc4amZfNDZmYm1iaHJkZw

Legend:
green : planned for 3.0.
orange: not started/still quite some work to do/to be discussed depending on planning. In any case, planned for further 3.x releases.

(Source: http://www.morphzone.org/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8121&forum=9&start=27)

But the development team has a strong record of acheiving the goals they set out for themselves and MorphOS continues to be the most impressive NG OS available.

Indeed!

:pint:

[takemehomegrandma]

Much as I like MorphOS, the architecture "announcement" seems more like "thinking about thinking about a new architecture". I wouldn't read much into it at this point

Well, take it for what it is: Before there was no plan communicated at all post PPC. Now there is. Before, some of us had a feeling that once the Mac's have been fully exploited, the MorphOS saga would end. Now it's confirmed that it won't, MorphOS will continue, even though PPC won't!

Looking forward to 3.x, though

The 3.x branch seems to become extraordinary!

[takemehomegrandma]

Well, I think its more like f. ex. Itix quite repeatedly said: It's a thing of motivation/situation when it's due. If the ppc Mac field is covered and the team feels like continuing the work, well, what's to do then? Looking for a new target of course.

I don't see this as some vague comment from the past. I see this as a pronounced commitment, a current mission statement. The day Itix spoke of (never saw that comment though, but I'll take your word for it) has kind of come, and a decision is made and is now communicated. This wasn't the case before. They are about to support the Powerbook PPC laptop. Comments I have seen rather recently makes me believe they won't really go after the G5, but we'll see about that. Anyway, besides the added HW support, they obviously have a list of things they want to add to MorphOS during the upcoming series of 3.x releases during the coming few years. And it's a very nice, ambitious and impressive list, and I'm sure they'll come up with even more stuff along the road! After that (or maybe even in parallel, or maybe someone already begun some time ago) they'll start working on the 64-bit part, etc, etc and prepare the migration to a new architecture.

If in a few years powerful and suited ppc hardware pops out of the nowhere

Now *that* is a serious pipe dream, hehe! :p

And more important to judge this kind of announcement from a user's POV: Don't fall for pipedreams, use what's available today. Or even shorter: "Live every day as if it were your last day"

Of course, and nobody said otherwise. The MorphOS 3.x branch will be a killer. Everything won't come in the 3.0 release, it's obvious that they have much planned for upcoming releases as well. So like I said earlier, for the immediate future there will be MorphOS 3.0. For a little more intermediate future, there will be 3.1, 3.2, ..., ..., etc. And in a longer term future (might not actually be that far away in an "Amiga time perspective", we'll see), there will be an "Apple leap" to MorphOS 4.0 (or whatever) on x64 and/or ARM, with 64-bit support, maybe SMP, MP etc in a way that wasn't possible before. A clear and communicated road map for the short-, mid-, and long-term future, for the first time (as far as I remember)! This made at least me look at MorphOS's future with a much more positive eyes!

[takemehomegrandma]

There was actually some thoughts and preliminary work in that regard, but that's it.

I somehow had a feeling about this!

Nothing to be expected before quite a long time in any case.

I don't think anyone really does, of course it's the 3.x everyone is waiting for, and this branch seems to be here for a while, and it obviously will take some time to incorporate what you seem to have planned for it.

But the point is that it's very nice to see that you envision a long-term future for MorphOS beyond what Mac PPC HW can bring, that it won't end with this!

[takemehomegrandma]

- Faster 3D Drivers (VBO), more complete support r300 (Radeon 9500 to 9800);

So does that mean that only those cards will see a performance boost and 3D on cards such as the 9200 will remain the same?

r300 3D won't be in the 3.0 release (from what was said on morphzone.org), but will come in later OS release.

The improved 3D in MorphOS will benefit current supported cards. And AFAIK, it will be a *major* boost!

[takemehomegrandma]

r300 3D won't be in the 3.0 release (from what was said on morphzone.org), but will come in later OS release.

The improved 3D in MorphOS will benefit current supported cards. And AFAIK, it will be a *major* boost!

Good to know!!!!

This is a quote from a post made on morphzone.org exactly a year ago (today):

"Then we were shown the updated 3D drivers, reaching 140fps in Quake III running at 800x600 on an humble Mac mini. That's roughly 50% better than last year, that in turn was already 100% faster than what we have in the public version of MorphOS"

So 2 years ago they showed 3D drivers that was 100% faster than what's in current public release, one year ago they showed drivers that was additionally 50% faster. That's 200% increase right there! Sounds good to mee!

I don't know if this relies on "VBO", that is scheduled for a MorphOS 3.1 or later release...

3D drivers faster, VBO, support r300 (Radeon 9500 to 9800). (From the presentation. Green = planned for 3.0, Orange = planned for later 3.x release)

...or if VBO will mean *additional* improvements on top of this, when its released?