Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: drGspot on June 30, 2005, 03:12:52 PM
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I dont know if this issue was allready raised here, but is there a chance now, when Apple ditched IBM to pull that chips Amiga Inc way ?
This would put Amiga boxes in elite 64 bit society.
http://tamtam.mi2.hr/razmjenavjestina/
amiga & linux are state of mind
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software is like sex -- it¨s better when it¨s free
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G5 Upgrades for all current A1 models (including the two unreleased models) are impossible. And do you really think IBM will do G5 only for Amiga when Apple left? They wouldnt even think about it for some hundred cpus.
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I expect IBM will stop producing the 970 at the end of the year/early next year. Don't expect to see any further development of desktop PPC chips.
Freescale will continue to develop their lowpower 7447 family of chips. These could be used by Amiga companies I guess.
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Rumor has it that after the AmigaOnes they will be skipping straight to the Cell processor and skipping the 970 series altogether.
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I doubt we will ever see OS4 on the cell. As far as I'm
concerned, cell really is not a very impressive processor.
I don't think it was designed with desktop style computing
in mind.
C Snyder
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Supposedly the Nintendo Revolution will include a multi-core G5. Hence G5's will be around for another 5 years...
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So Apple"s decision has put dark side of the force on PowerPerformanceChip in general.
Which alternative, besides cell, Amiga have in say 4-5 years ?
http://tamtam.mi2.hr/razmjenavjestina/
amiga & linux are state of mind
***
software is like sex -- it¨s better when it¨s free
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lou_dias wrote:
Supposedly the Nintendo Revolution will include a multi-core G5. Hence G5's will be around for another 5 years...
But it will use custom microcodes like the gecko before it thus requiring a licence to produce custom software for the Revolution (even though Nintendo claims their system will be more open to independant developers).
Besides the Revolution is rumored not to support HDTV natively.
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drGspot wrote:
So Apple"s decision has put dark side of the force on PowerPerformanceChip in general.
Which alternative, besides cell, Amiga have in say 4-5 years ?
http://tamtam.mi2.hr/razmjenavjestina/
amiga & linux are state of mind
***
software is like sex -- it¨s better when it¨s free
If we knew which processors companies are going to use in the future do you think we'd waste time posting to Amiga.org ? I know I'd be out in my car having fun ... :-)
But peering into my crystal ball I see an Amigaless future ... personally I think the platform is going to fail (again), it was nice but now it just doesn't have anything at all that makes it standout or give it an edge, just a rehash of ideas that are already out in the world. Major innovation required.
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Supposedly the Nintendo Revolution will include a multi-core G5. Hence G5's will be around for another 5 years...
You mean a custom-designed, system-on-a-chip based on the PPC.
But peering into my crystal ball I see an Amigaless future ... personally I think the platform is going to fail (again), it was nice but now it just doesn't have anything at all that makes it standout or give it an edge, just a rehash of ideas that are already out in the world. Major innovation required.
Exactly. The CPU doesn't matter in my opinion, as the software is just too far underdeveloped.
Thus, the ultimate irony: the Amiga was made famous for its custom chips, but Amigans today waste all their time with idiotic x86 vs PPC flamewars. A CPU alone doesn't make a system.
So long as I have to pay $600-800 for a largely outdated "Amiga" that is blown away by a $200 PC and comes with an OS that is based on technology several years old, I'm going to buy a PC. Windows is frustrating, but not enough to force me to pay obscene amounts of money and deal with hardly any real software. A community of a few thousand people is not going to produce any meaningful software except for millions of Linux ports, which alreay run on every other system out there.
Amiga should have done what Apple did. Use an existing OS and built a new Workbench. Why not? It's not like Amiga is smart enough to use revolutionary, non-UNIX techniques like transparrent persistence, anyway.
Also, nobody really gives a damn to make a programmer's life easier, except for the virtual machine platforms like Java. Java didn't become popular because it's fast and bug free, you know. We need good tools, not a PPC.
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SamuraiCrow wrote:
Rumor has it that after the AmigaOnes they will be skipping straight to the Cell processor and skipping the 970 series altogether.
Who is "they"?
EyeTech have clealy stated that there will be no new "Amiga" designs.
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Hyperion-Entertainment, of course.
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I doubt we will ever see OS4 on the cell. As far as I'm
concerned, cell really is not a very impressive processor.
I don't think it was designed with desktop style computing
in mind.
Cell CPU? Bleh (http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=154333&cid=12947910)!
Dammy
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Yup, Bleh!
Cell isn't designed for desktop computing. I wouldnt wish cell on the Amiga, it has enough troubles.
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I have heard that the cell cpus are for some reason limited to the usage of only 256meg ram max. I honestly dont know if this is really true, but it would not be a good thing if it was..
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It's true that Cell wasn't designed for desktop computing.
It was designed for general multimedia usage, something which the Amiga used to excell at.
Before you let yourself be dragged along by an ignoramus like Randy, take a look at this actual game footage from a CELL based PS3 dev box.
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/748/748475/vids_1.html
Tell me again that this wouldn't be an excellent solution for an Amiga based system.
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> TO: Hyperion MP
Sony Director said that Defective Cell CPUs with only 6 SPE will be used on Home Server.
1. Is it possible to run Amiga OS 4.X for Cell on the Cell's PowerPC core only, without any SPE?
If this is possible, perhaps Eyetech / HW vendors can buy defective Cell CPUs for Amiga HW at low cost.
2. Is there any guarantee that there will be enough supply of defective Cell CPUs at low cost for future Amiga platform?
IBM had said that the main distribution priorities are for IBM, SONY, and Toshiba.
At present Eyetech is having problems with PowerPC availability.
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Tell me again that this wouldn't be an excellent solution for an Amiga based system.
But who builds Cell based computer and who is ready to pay Amiga Inc for OS4 license? I doubt there are many... The Cell CPU alone doesnt make working system.
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Well, I'm sure many, especially some AMOS fans, would say that since Apple chose Intel, then Amiga should choose AMD-64. And I would agree.
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SamuraiCrow wrote:
Hyperion-Entertainment, of course.
Hyperion are a software company.
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@bloodline
Hyperion Entertainment is a software company and Sony is a hardware company. I read in an interview that the hard drive attachment for the PlayStation 3 was going to come with Linux preinstalled but that the design would be open to other operating systems in the future.
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Hyperion: It was designed for general multimedia usage, something which the Amiga used to excell at.
Compatibility and support is what bothers me about the glut of console-type machines available -- the Amiga had a lot of problems with that if I remember correctly because developers obsessed more about the hardware than what their software should do. Today's console maintain backwards compatibility through emulation, either via software or hardware. If an e-mail program is written for a PS2, how do you run it simultaneously next to a native Cell-based PS3 application? Emulation will only take you so far, especially when multitasking is important.
Cell wasn't designed to be very scalable, either. It won't come in a variety of clock speeds like x86.
Besides, multimedia these days more or less means fancy 3D graphics, not things like design, toolkits, scanning, printing, and personal creativity, like, point-and-click apps that let you write your own software. Even word processors are still in the stone age as far as I'm concerned.
Tell me again that this wouldn't be an excellent solution for an Amiga based system.
What bothers me is that PPC is being persued so agressively. Anything else is just not an option. Make them in the millions and they're cheap, but so far the Amiga community hasn't had the luxury of competive hardware.
We'll also need the software first. So far, OS4 and AA don't come close to the tools made by other companies, and they aren't bundled together, either.
I find it amazing that almost anything designed for a 386 will work fine on a P4 and apps designed for many different generations of hardware will multitask properly. I suppose people in the console and hand-held market don't really care about that level of compatibility, though, if they can sell you a new version every year or a (ugh) subscription service. Linux works because, at least, everything can be recompiled again by the user from scratch. Commercial software has different issues.
If OS4 had been based on a proven OS and Hyperion focused on multimedia tools and Amiga Inc. had delivered their promise of this super-fast, killer virtual machine, I'd be more enthusiastic. We need more software demos, not arguments over whether Cell is a good CPU or not.