One unified OS for the future?

[Kronos]

Few thoughts:

MUI is not just much easier to code for it will also look much nicer for user (+ offering options)

Amigas that can't run MUI without problems are pretty lowend indeed, so unless you plan to distribute SW for 68000 + 1MB useing MUI won't be a problem

Anybody who hasn't MUI installed on his mid-range Amiga (read 020 or 030 with atleast 4MB) is most likely not really interested in new SW

[Kronos]

@itix

Probably not a simple question to answer, but in your estimation, how many MUI applications depend on custom classes that are uniquely defined within that application (i.e. by runtime subclassing/extension in the BOOPSI fashion) as opposed to reusing existing shared classes?

Not sure what you are trying to say here, as all proper MUI apps would define atleast 1 such class, but thats ain't a problem in anyway.

If a MUI-app uses 3rd party mcc-classes is an important question.

[Kronos]

I also doubt that "Classic" users really are the biggest group but that may depend on your definition of "user".

IMO someone who just starts a bunch of games in WHDLoad and does same basic DPaint every odd year does not count.

In the same light one can also question the claim about the "largest SW collection", cos most of that is completly irrelevant today.

MorphOS,OS4 and to some lesser extent AROS aims a different demographic, peoöe who want to use "Amiga" as their main system doing things normally done by WinTel,Mac or *nix, which does mandate a certain min. spec far above all that is available for classic outside emulation.

Proper 68k users on the other side are far deeper entrenched in doing things the same way they did them for the past 20 years.

[Kronos]

As soon as you're depending on non-standard hardware, prices will be high and products will be non-competative because you're operating in a very small market.

There is a rather long list of small&cheaps ARM based boards readily available, stating from the rather weak RPi up to some quadcore versions, so HW surely ain't a problem when going ARM.