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Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga Software News => Topic started by: bhoggett on September 09, 2002, 02:36:26 AM

Title: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: bhoggett on September 09, 2002, 02:36:26 AM
 As shown at the French Amiga show this week-end, here is the status update of the AmigaOS4 project.

Click the "Read More..." link for the full story.

- exec will be finished this week.
- ramlib is done
- dos is done
- intuition is 95% done.
(The new sys-i class still needs to be added. Work scheduled for completion end of the month. The prefs program is done at 80%)
- graphics is done
- layers is done
- utility is done
- iffparse is done
- cia.ressource
- audio.device
- timer.device done at 99%
- keyboard.device done at 99%
(a few lines of ASM code left)
- input.device done
- keymap.library done
- lowlevel.library done
- utility.library done
- clip handler
(This is the very first release of the cliphandler, i.e. the CONCLIP: device, that provides clipboard support on the level of the dos stream I/O. It also provides a simple library for applications that cannot call the dos.library directly.)
- queue handler done
- shell, features added, bugs fixed
- cdfs is done
- FFS2 is done. Plugin feature added
(plugins can be added to some partitions for encryption, caching, mirroring....)
i.e. you can write a plugin that allows you to encrypt automatically all files copied into a partition.

- AmiDock is done.
(One of the so many features are the Dockies.
These are plugins that allow the user to add active content into the dock like a running clock or a lens that displays the area under the mouse pointer, or ... whatever you want ! Who will write a demo in a Docky ? :-) )

- GhostScript is added.
(It allows to create/display PostScript or PDF. Also a port of xPDF will be added.)
- USB stack (with Subway/Highway/Thyclacine support)
- Soundblaster Live drivers!
- MUI
- Ibrowse 2.3
- PPC native datatypes
- Reaction (95% finished)
- MediaToolbox
- PartitionWizard
- ft2.manager, diskfont.library.
(You'll now be able to open all sort of font formats...)

Items still outstanding for OS 4:

- SCSI driver
- Remaining Intuition/Reaction work (5%)
- Roadshow GUI completion
- 2D driver completion (5% remaining)
- 68K emulation integration
- AmigaInput (nearly done)

Best regards,

Ben Hermans
Managing partner Hyperion Entertainment

Source: ann.lu (http://www.ann.lu)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Tomas on September 09, 2002, 02:50:52 AM
Lots of done here  :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Kay on September 09, 2002, 02:55:41 AM
Yup, looks good. Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing has to be *re*-done. Good work Hyperion/AOS4 team. :-)

Kay
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Allen on September 09, 2002, 03:08:17 AM
Erm....didn't they say exec was complete a couple of months ago?

Anyhow nice to see the list is mostly "done".  Although 99% is anyones guess!

Here it means the product is in final sign-off. i.e all coding, testing and paperwork is finished all you need is signatures to roll out.  This can often be the longest part of a project! :)

Allen
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: CD32Freak on September 09, 2002, 03:08:44 AM
Yay! Thanks for the interesting update Mr. Hermans
 :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Loki1 on September 09, 2002, 03:12:34 AM
[color=FF0000]It sure would be nice to have a shiny new AmigaOne w/OS4.0 under my Christmas Tree come Dec 25th!![/color][/b]


Loki :-P
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: MAD on September 09, 2002, 03:12:56 AM
Hoya!

Well, for my 100th post, this is good news!!! :-D

Note to Hyperion: why not hiring a student who could put some more
screenshots online while you keep on developping? ;-)

Apart from this,

/me waits for Kronos to say something annoying about all this! ;-) (No
offense Kro.)

Be VERY fUnKy!!!
:-D

M A D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Kronos on September 09, 2002, 03:24:33 AM
@MAD

I think I better quote one of the Friedens-Bros (Hans-Jörg I think):

"The 1st 90% are fun, the 2nd 90% are hard work and the 3rd 90% are hell"  ;-)

OS4 is "nearly finished" when it can actually run stuff like
Imagine,Quake2,GoldEd.... on an A1.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: bhoggett on September 09, 2002, 03:43:04 AM
I have to agree. All this "99% finished" mumbo-jumbo is just marketing talk. Then again, the "status report" is just a marketing ploy to counteract the MorphOS marketing machine, not that I blame Hyperion for releasing it.

You just have to see things for what they are.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Kay on September 09, 2002, 03:46:25 AM
> "The 1st 90% are fun, the 2nd 90% are hard work and the 3rd 90% are hell"

Wow, that's really well said! Applies perfectly to software development, as far as I know...

I actually agree with Kronos here. I have yet to see a piece of software completed too early... for some reason, it almost always takes longer than one thinks.

Kay
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: hnl_dk on September 09, 2002, 03:50:02 AM
I would like mine under my Christmas Tree on the 24th of December :-D

Santa is comming faster to Denmark ;-)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: ilgulamc on September 09, 2002, 04:38:24 AM
Quote
Santa is comming faster to Denmark  


mhhh... eiaculatio precox? :-P
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: jd997uk on September 09, 2002, 05:04:35 AM
@Bill:
The trouble is, is it's the old 'you can't please all the people, all the time' routine.
It's barely a week since someone complained about a lack of info, updates, etc.
As soon as Ben forwards a status report, giving people an idea of where they're at, it's rubbished (I'm not knocking you here, as you've at least been balanced in your post, unlike many others ;~)).

@All and Everyone:
I'm certain peoples opinions will never change with regard to the OS4PPC. This  The Amiga supporters seem firmly split into 4 factions:
Classic (and not prepared to upgrade)
A~thlon (won't be happy until a x86 native version arrives)
MoreFuss (Ralf is God, Ralf is God, etc, etc Ad Infinitum, endless advocacy about a product they've never seen/used).
A1/OS4 (Tired, jaded and battle weary. Prepared to wait for the products to ship, happy to be in the 'I am Amiga' club).

I guess I'm in the last group, Bill's in the A~thlon, and no prizes for guessing where Kronos is camped.

Where does everyone else fit in?

-john
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: z5 on September 09, 2002, 05:07:41 AM
Marketing tricks aside, they deserve respect. At least they dared to take on the challenge and quite frankly, i would not want to be one of the Frieden bros right now. The pressure must be high. Trying to deliver something the Amiga community has waited for so long.  Not one day in a forum without the question when it will be ready. People have been talking about it since the first day they started developing.

And then there are the MorphOs guys almost ready to release and trying to win the same Amiga hearts. And showcasing more stuff than they can at the moment.

And they have to survive financially for a year because after all, they are running a business and they have to earn money.

And then there are the usual setbacks as any project has.

I have respect for the whole OS4 team.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 09, 2002, 05:26:24 AM
Great news.  Already saving for the big day.

Congratulations on the work.

As for those that don't understand 90-95% let me translate - "nearly done" - whether this is weeks or months away is of no consequence - for God's sake look at how much is finished!!
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 09, 2002, 05:35:50 AM
Quote
Erm....didn't they say exec was complete a couple of months ago?


They did but IIRC they were adding in extra support for Virtual memory, etc.

Its nice to see all the positive reponses that have been posted on this site regarding this announcement.

On ANN everybody was moaning for one reason or another (what does done mean!?!? is it finished or not, moan moan moan) :-x

I personally am encouranged by this (though it would have been nice to see "Its finished guys, go buy it"), Hopefully we should get to see the OS in action on AmigaOne at the WoA.SE in November (i dont expect it to be on sale by then, if we still have to go through a Beta test stage)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: starbird80 on September 09, 2002, 06:25:35 AM
> Where does everyone else fit in?

I'm on the fence between the first two categories.  I'm certainly not prepared to upgrade my "classic" machines to run AOS 4.x, nor am I willing to invest in the one option for new PPC hardware at this point.

 When the "Zico" specification was announced, way back when, it looked like OS 4.x would run on x86 (commodity hardware).  Now I'm hoping "Berniethlon" sees the light of day.  

Meantime, it's OS3.5 on the A3000T, and Windoze95 on my wife's PeeCee.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 09, 2002, 06:33:19 AM
Well, this is a bit of a letdown for me. Last week Mr. Hermans said that ExecSG was "quite finished". Now "exec will be finished next week." Maybe they mean the same thing in his language, but not in English.

I just mention it because Kronos & I had an exchange about it & it would be dishonest not to admit I misunderstood what was meant by "quite finished".
 :-)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: theTAO on September 09, 2002, 06:40:48 AM
No complaints here, and there are even a few surprises beyond the feature list that was announced earlier, like the FFS2 plugins.  Nice.  A couple (rhetorical?) questions that come to mind:

> - Soundblaster Live drivers!

still via AHI, right?

> - GhostScript is added.
> (It allows to create/display PostScript or PDF. Also a port of
> xPDF will be added.)

I wonder who the programmer(s) are in charge of these.  Could OS4.0's Ghostscript be a continuation of Rüdiger Hanke's Ghostscript 6.5 port (he was working on 7.x), and could the PDF reader be a finished (finally!) version of Emmanuel Lesueur's APDF 3.0?  MUI or Reaction?

> - PartitionWizard

What's this?

> Items still outstanding for OS 4:
> - SCSI driver

Hmm, I had the impression that this had been finished for a long time, about as long as (for example) FFS2.

Todd
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Coder on September 09, 2002, 06:45:18 AM
@bhoggett

Quote
I have to agree. All this "99% finished" mumbo-jumbo is just marketing talk. Then again, the "status report" is just a marketing ploy to counteract the MorphOS marketing machine, not that I blame Hyperion for releasing it.

You just have to see things for what they are.


Makes sence what you said.

I for one believe it when I have it running on my A1. And not go by any given dates or a maybe.

Coder
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: HyperionMP on September 09, 2002, 07:19:42 AM
Thomas Frieden redesigned Exec SG's exception handling last week which is why it was it was first termed as "completed".

You should realise that this type of software never really is truly finished.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: HyperionMP on September 09, 2002, 07:26:36 AM
I wonder who the programmer(s) are in charge of these. Could OS4.0's Ghostscript be a continuation of Rüdiger Hanke's Ghostscript 6.5 port (he was working on 7.x), and could the PDF reader be a finished (finally!) version of Emmanuel Lesueur's APDF 3.0? MUI or Reaction?

AFAIK these are completely new ports done by Andrija (The Anthony) Antonijevic who also did our AmiSSL V2.

   http://www.bigfoot.com/~TheAntony/
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: HyperionMP on September 09, 2002, 07:33:10 AM
Actually Bill the status report correctly reflects reality.

Considering that OS 4 has been under development by Hyperion since November 1, 2001 it's hardly surprising that we got to the stage where we are now.

We get requests every day by people for status reports.

It's too time-consuming to compile these on a frequent basis and I thank Elwood for taking care of this for me.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: ikir on September 09, 2002, 07:40:39 AM
I hope they relase it soon.... :-(
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Coder on September 09, 2002, 07:42:33 AM
Dear Santa,

If my stocking is to small please take out the OS4 cd out of the box and put that in the stocking.

Thnx,

Coder
p.s. Cookies and milk are under the tree.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Elektro on September 09, 2002, 08:01:10 AM
Dear Santa,

I am out of stockings please put my AOS4 in the underpants.

Yours,
Elektro

P.S: Sorry for the smell...
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Kronos on September 09, 2002, 08:14:36 AM
Dear Santa,

Nevermind, just tell it to the Easter Bunny   :-P
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 09, 2002, 08:24:38 AM
I'll B happy if I'll get mine in time 4 Hanuca...

Anyway, thanX 2 D guys in Hyperion 4 D hard work.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Madgun68 on September 09, 2002, 08:27:58 AM
Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is Coder's AmigaOne. He can have the box it came in.  :-P
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: seer on September 09, 2002, 08:33:16 AM
All I want for Christmas is Coder's AmigaOne. He can have the box it came in.

Oohh How cruel !!  :-o  ;-)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 09, 2002, 08:51:23 AM
Quote
Thomas Frieden redesigned Exec SG's exception handling last week which is why it was it was first termed as "completed".


Thanks a LOT, that makes sense!

Quote
You should realise that this type of software never really is truly finished.


I do, as a matter of fact. :-)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Dagon on September 09, 2002, 09:27:36 AM
Reading these news I understood that it will be ready sooner than Christmas. I hope I`m right.

@Kronos
nice joke that with the easter bunny :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: chris on September 09, 2002, 09:47:47 AM
Quote
> - PartitionWizard
What's this?


Probably a tool which allows you to quickly/easily create partitions via a "wizard" interface.  Either that or it's something like PartitionMagic which allows you to shuffle partitions around without losing the contents.  I suspect the former, but hope for the latter.

Quote
> - SCSI driver

Hmm, I had the impression that this had been finished for a long time, about as long as (for example) FFS2.


You're probably confusing it with scsi.device for IDE drives :-)  I don't SCSI was originally going to make it into OS4.0 so certainly it wouldn't have been ready around the time of FFS2.

Chris
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: kostas on September 09, 2002, 11:20:15 AM
I have a 30Gb HD with tones of Mp3's (almost 9.500 - a great collection). OS4 will see this HD? I mean is there any Gb limitation?



Kostas
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: AmiGR on September 09, 2002, 11:26:27 AM
> MoreFuss
> Ralf is God, Ralf is God,

I didn't ever see anybody saying that.

> etc, etc Ad Infinitum

Like "the other side".

> endless advocacy about a product they've never
> seen/used).

? I'm using it right now...

Your agenda is too limited and fanatical...
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Kay on September 09, 2002, 11:29:19 AM
@kostas:

I have an 80Gb hardrive working with FFS on OS3.9. I would be extremely surprised if OS4 couldn't handle harddrives at least as large as OS3.9 can...

Kay
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: jahc on September 09, 2002, 11:55:53 AM
@HyperionMP

Quote
We get requests every day by people for status reports.


I had no idea it was that bad. I apologise for being one of those people, I wont email you again. But I really appreciate the info you've shared with us today. Thanks.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Marky_D_Sahd on September 09, 2002, 01:17:53 PM
C h r i s t m a s  i s  t o o  f a r  a w a y ! ! !
  I  w a n t  m i n e  N O W ! ! !
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: KennyR on September 09, 2002, 02:24:24 PM
@Kay

Nice avatar! Has something in common with mine :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Elektro on September 09, 2002, 02:30:50 PM
@ JAHC:

Eaten anyone lately?

 :-D  :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Kay on September 09, 2002, 08:00:01 PM
@Captain Svensg...er...KennyR

Thanks. I stole the idea from you, obviously. :-) I just happen to be a huge SMAC fan. I'd sacrifice an arm and a leg (or at least some money) to see it ported to the Amiga.

Kay
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Nick on September 09, 2002, 11:19:54 PM
Iam glad that most of the posts are positive. I`am sick of the sinical ones where people try to make out that they are trying to trick us at every turn. Would you get such an informative status update on Windows. NO!

I can`t wait for this OS it will kick the butt of any previous ones. I can wait until Christmas, and a bit further (don`t get any ideas Hyperion).

Christmas has never looked so good. How many people here actually go to church? I bet like me Christmas is just a holiday and a time to scrape in some funds and cool/bad stuff.
Anyway I don`t want to make this into another religian thing. I just want OS4.
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: x303 on September 09, 2002, 11:42:40 PM
I'm really pleased with the update. Keep up the good work, guyz.

[color=FF0000]x303[/color] :-D  :-D  :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 10, 2002, 12:49:39 AM
Really liked that update and Im positively surprised that Ghostscript is included :)

Will it support all the different output devices (like linux gs) so virtually any printer can be used?
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: System on September 10, 2002, 03:05:39 AM
I understand that people want to see AmigaOS4 today rather than tomorrow. But some things simply cannot be rushed when developing a quality product.

I still remember the days when a true AmigaOS PPC port seemed almost impossible due to the time and costs involved. Now many years later in the year 2002 (who would have thought? :-o) it *is* about to happen!  :-D
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: J on September 10, 2002, 07:20:37 AM
Well said MikeB!

I agree with all your comments. And nice avatar :)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: kostas on September 10, 2002, 08:12:11 AM
@Kay

Thanks for the info (I am stuck in 3.1 yet)
Title: Re: AmigaOS 4.0 status update
Post by: Hammer on September 11, 2002, 09:13:52 PM
Quote
I'm certain peoples opinions will never change with regard to the OS4PPC. This The Amiga supporters seem firmly split into 4 factions:
Quote

Unlike some multi-platform OS e.g. BeOS, the wanabe AmigaOS successors has a common layer i.e. virtual 68k AmigaOS 3.x compatibility layer. I’m not sure on what is MOS’s AmigaOS 3.x compatibility layer quality.