Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: ljones on October 07, 2003, 01:50:51 AM
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Um...I've been out of the amiga arena for quite some time now (though I do still use my old amigas, and have a copy of amithlon). I was just wondering what the current state of the new amiga, the Amigaone is and OS4? The reason I ask is because all of the info on the net I read is quite confusing at times: I've read things about the amigaone being in trouble, then being ok; People upset about their Amigaone boards, rent not being paid, Genesi (who?), Court cases.....all kinds of stuff from all kinds of amiga news websites. But what is the *real* situation? I can read stuff on one site, and then something else on another site which says something completely different!
Is the Amigaone alive, dead and what about OS4? And are eyetech still making the boards?
I would like to buy an Amigaone but feel put off because of the confusing information, the thought that it won't work with my current hardware and lack of software :( . It would be marvellous if I could replace my ageing Athlon 700 with an amigaone, but the amigaone would need to be able to do everything I do with my PC right now. (I do a lot of video capture with a Matrox G400TV card, and use Mandrake 9.1 on my main PC system).
ljones@lineone.net
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ljones wrote:
Um...I've been out of the amiga arena for quite some time now (though I do still use my old amigas, and have a copy of amithlon).
Welcome back :)
I was just wondering what the current state of the new amiga, the Amigaone is and OS4?
AmigaOne "EarlyBird" systems are shipping with Linux. they aren't really ready for "normal" users yet unless you're experienced with setting up Linux and good with computers in general.
The reason I ask is because all of the info on the net I read is quite confusing at times: I've read things about the amigaone being in trouble, then being ok;
I don't think AmigaOne has been in trouble. Amiga Inc has had some difficulties, but they have nothing to do with the AmigaOne.
People upset about their Amigaone boards
I think thats just people who bought them expecting them to work "out of the box" like their old Amigas.
rent not being paid
Yeah, Amiga Inc didn't pay the rent so their landlord evicted them from their offices and sold off their equipment to get back some of the money he was owed.
Genesi (who?)
Genesi is a company mainly composed of ex-Amiga hardware / software developers (including those behind the Phase 5 BlizzardPPC and CyberStormPPC cards, the G-Rex, CyberGraphX, and others) who sell a PPC Amiga-compatible machine called the Pegasos which runs MorphOS. It is in a very advanced stage of development, and the Pegasos 2 (with a 1Ghz G4, Gigabit ethernet, DDR memory) is due out in a few days.
It is very fast, works great, and is a fantastic machine.
Court cases.....all kinds of stuff from all kinds of amiga news websites.
Amiga Inc owe lots of people money. They're also being sued by Genesi for failing to fulfil their obligations under a contract they signed with them some time ago regarding AmigaDE.
But what is the *real* situation? I can read stuff on one site, and then something else on another site which says something completely different!
I think I can guess which site you mean ;)
Best way is just to download and read the court documents (http://www.merlancia.us/amigabk/) yourself.
Is the Amigaone alive, dead
Still alive and still being sold.
and what about OS4?
Still in development, but "nearly finished".
And are eyetech still making the boards?
Eyetech never made any boards they're just a retailer. the boards are designed by a company called Mai logic and Eyetech buy them in from the Far East and pay Amiga Inc a $50 license fee for each one to use the Amiga name.
I would like to buy an Amigaone but feel put off because of the confusing information, the thought that it won't work with my current hardware and lack of software :( .
It's a catch 22 situation. If people don't buy the boards then there won't be new software, but if there's no new software then people won't buy the boards...
It would be marvellous if I could replace my ageing Athlon 700 with an amigaone, but the amigaone would need to be able to do everything I do with my PC right now. (I do a lot of video capture with a Matrox G400TV card, and use Mandrake 9.1 on my main PC system).
If you're going to get one, then don't expect it to replace your PC (at least just yet). Get one as a second system (but wait until OS4 is out) and wait until the software base has increased a bit before getting rid of your PC.
And also take a look at the Pegasos (http://www.pegasosppc.com). It's significantly cheaper than the AmigaOne, very compatible with Amiga software, very fast there is a large amount of software in development (a great free software package is included called the SuperBundle), and has great potential and (in my opinion) a bright future.
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I also suggest you read our article (http://amiga.org/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=14) on the current Amiga, Inc situation. Oh, and the recent show reports, IRC logs, video, and pictures.
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would like to buy an Amigaone but feel put off because of the confusing information, the thought that it won't work with my current hardware and lack of software :( . It would be marvellous if I could replace my ageing Athlon 700 with an amigaone, but the amigaone would need to be able to do everything I do with my PC right now. (I do a lot of video capture with a Matrox G400TV card, and use Mandrake 9.1 on my main PC system).
I think feeling 'put off' is a bit of an understatement, AmigaOne is basically Amiga.inc's answer to the pegasos (http://www.pegasosppc.com) you be the judge of wich is better???
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Yes Meershaum... let ljones decide for him/herself. Why the politicking in this thread? Isn't it about time that we all lay our arms to rest and look not to the future but at the present in a harmonious manner? Why such animosity? Heck... even Rogue and BBRV are talking to each other in the OS4 on Blizzard PPC thread. Let's give it a rest, and let's confer as comrades on how better to market the Amiga to larger populace. :-)
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i know of 3 people who had problems with their amigaone , one of em was me ... others was staticman and the 3rd was one on the list , and its in general all USER problems.
so stating that all models etc are bad/have problems is somewhat very wrong :D , but then again its sold more amigaone's than pegasos's and pegasos users have mos which is abit more amiga like than linux, i hate linux and have very little interests in it and thats why i had problems and will get more problems until i get os4 on it.
amiga os4 is alive and kicking.
pegasos 2 will come shortly (genesi) , and morphos 1.5 is soon out.
amigaone lite is out 3 months ? from now.
merlancia claim they have an amiga model ready (pegasos2 ?) but no os info.
Sharkppc is supposed to be continued around xmas2003
so by all means , amiga aint dead , the users aint dead..we are just waiting...and its possible to have fun while waiting.
welcome back btw
cheers
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@ljones
Buy what you want, enjoy your freedom :-) but one good piece of advice is "stay away from Amiga Inc" they are liars and crooks who have took peoples money and delivered nothing in return, they belong behind bars or hopefully that state has the death penalty.
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And remember, stay away from Amiga Inc does NOT mean stay away from OS4 or AmigaOne!
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Jope: Agree... Even though I can't recommend those for average user at
this point (unless average user is Linux freak, and even then price
is a bit high), they have essentially nothing (except name license) to
do with AmigaInc.
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Forget all the rubbish above, it is pretty much all viased in one way or another.
The real story is:
The amigaOne is a PPC base machine running at 800Mhz which is more powerful than your current system.It comes with debian linux but I am sure Eyetech can adjust the linux distribution to fullfil your needs(within reason)
Eyetech do not manufacture the AmigaOne, they contact another company to build them for them...os it really is a moot point.
Hyperion is currently developing OS4 which is the new operating system for classic, PPC accelerated Amigas and the AmigaOne. It has been displayed on both these machines so development is nearing the end.
Genesi are a company that produces a product that at this time is directly competing with the AmigaOne. It runs Morphos 1.4 which will run classic amiga software through emulation, much like OS4 will.It is also a PPC machine and will run linux.Morphos, in my opinion, is not yet at the comercial readiness standard, but is at the end of the beta cycle.The Pegasos II is supposed to be launched in days, but as yet we have no hard specs for it. I suspect it will be similar to the old machine with just a bigger CPU.
Amiga Inc, do owe money to some people, but the majority of that money is owed to the people who own the largest portion of the company.They have no outstanding loans to my knowledge.
Genesi are suing Amiga Inc because AMiga Inc turned down thier [color=0000FF]application[/color] to get AMiga DE ported to thier pegasos machine.
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@lempkee
"more A1s than Pegs" ....
Says who ???
The only actual number I ever heard came from KDH,claiming that they had
sold 3times more A1s than Pegs. Which is kinda funny when you know how many
Pegs went through their hands (can count them on fingers).
Most Pegs have been directly sold by Genesi (BT1, Phoenix), most boards in
Germany by Vesalia.
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@ljones
Regarding all the infighting and spin, etc, all I can say is read as much as you can with an open mind, don't settle on any one person or group's opinion as the correct one, and soon you start to realise for yourself who's who in the community and what each person's ulterior motives might be at any one time. It's something no-one can really tell you because most people are biased, you can't ask someone to provide you with a balanced view, it's impossible.
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ljones wrote:
I was just wondering what the current state of the new amiga, the Amigaone is and OS4?
"New Amiga"?
Luckily there won't be such a thing. There will be AmigaOS and whatever third party hardware it'll be ported to. That currently comprises the Teron (http://mai.com/products/Mainboard.htm) series motherboards from Mai Logic. The Teron CX and the Teron PX are also distributed by Eyetech, using the licensed "AmigaOne" trademark, and then they're called "AmigaOne SE" (discontinued) and "AmigaOne PX" respectively.
I can read stuff on one site, and then something else on another site which says something completely different!
Well, here's (http://amigapop.8bit.co.uk/intro.html) my summary (that's only about AmigaOS and hardware, not the Amiga Inc situation).
None of the companies you mentioned have anything to do with hardware design/production, so whatever legal and financial mess Amiga Inc. is in, it won't affect the Teron mobos.
AmigaOS4 is made by Hyperion Entertainment, and they have posted that AmigaOS4 should be safe regardless of what happens to Amiga Inc. But unless Hyperion actually has bought everything - all rights, patents and the "AmigaOS" trademark - I personally doubt that AmigaOS could be completely unaffected. I suppose that even if the actual contracts and agreements were made public, it would still be a matter of gazing into the crystal ball.
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Kronos wrote:
@lempkee
"more A1s than Pegs" ....
Says who ???
IIRC its was 1300 at last count Eyetech had shipped out to endusers / dealers.
Cant remember where i read it, I think perhaps DaveP posted that figure somewhere ??? I could be wrong.
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And the beta of AmigaOS4.0 is being exhibited today in Sydney, and on the 18th in Brisbane!
(http://home.iprimus.com.au/vortexau/images/amiban.gif)
I an one of 40 in Australia awaiting delivery of a A1 motherboard; in my case as a fully-built system!
.............................................
"Why don't you say something righteous, and hopeful for a change?" - Oddball in 'KELLY'S HEROES'
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JurasicCamper.. As rumours do.. if they are repeated many times
enugh .. some wil belive :)
Anyhow.. What counts is number of users.. Not boards made and sitting
on warehouses (or cupbboards) aroud the world.
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So... Mr(?) Jones ..
Hope thats cleared it up for you !!
Cos it sure as hell hasn't for me !! :-o
But if its any help to you... I'm one of many that HAS purchased an AmigaONE G4xe .. The only problems I have/ARE encountering are due to my lack of knowledge/experience of Linux.
I am also into Non Linear Editing as I film weddings ..Christenings ... Pantomines etc and am hoping to move my capture/edit systems over to A1 in the near future ...
If that means having to go through some headaches with linux ...So be it !!
But, finally, remember ... As an A1 owner ...I MUST be biased !!
:-D :-D :-D :-D
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I an one of 40 in Australia awaiting delivery of a A1 motherboard; in my case as a fully-built system!
And don't forget the other "undisclosed number" of happy A1 owners in Australia :-D :-) ;-) :pint: :pint: :pint:
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lempkee wrote:
Sharkppc is supposed to be continued around xmas2003
Nice! More information about this somewhere?
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@lempkee
There is NO connection between Merlancia and Genesi,and there won't
be any (there was some in 2001, but bPlan soon found out that Ryan is
just a joke,and thats why there won't be any new).
SharkPPC ? Don't get me started on that one ..... ;-)
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ljones wrote:
"Phew, um .... thank you all the responses, and :) thank you for welcoming me back there. Sorry about taking *so* long to respond; RL gets in the way so much! I read most of the documents I could get my paws on :) but it's still all quite confusing to a point; some like the Pegasos, some like the Amigaone, some like Amiga inc, some hate Amiga inc.....on that I still don't know what to think. I must admit the pegasus looks intresting, though I note that both it and the Amigaone use the PPC chip, the same chip as found in the apple mac.
Why do I mention this? About a year ago, I bought an old second hand Powermac G3/233; I was lead to believe that "megahertz myth" was true; that the powerpc CPUs were faster than their intel equivilents. To cut a long story short, I found that a Mac G3/233 with OS8 struggled against a intel-based PC with a significantly slower (in terms of Mhz) CPU(!). What I'm trying to point out is my experience with the powerpc chips so far hasn't been very good. I'm wondering how this affects the amigaone/pegasos.
So....right now, for me the jury's still out as I am still reading stuff(!).
Everyone's posts here have been helpful :) but I'll admit, there's more to the subject of the new amiga than meets the eye! Thanks everyone for responding :) .
ljones@lineone.net"