As alx already pointed out:
PowerPC Amigas were -already- available. If you're going to take an OS to a new architecture, it makes a -lot- of sense to do it on a system where you can run new parts side-by-side with old parts (i.e. Cyberstorms/Blizzards). The -only- x86 solution that allowed that is Amithlon, which, of course, is not available to Hyperion.
They could have done what AROS did and start from scratch on x86, but that would've taken much more time. How many here can tell me that they have a working, stand-alone (i.e. no Linux) AROS x86 box that contains the functionality of AOS 4.0?
If Hyperion hadn't gone PPC, there might not -be- an AOS at all. Yes, MOS is a very viable Amiga OS, but AInc had already turned that down (IIRC, because Laire wouldn't give up his rights to the kernel, which he shouldn't). And, anyway, MOS is a PPC solution as well.
We'll see what happens in the future, once AOS 4.0 is final, and back in AInc's hands. With its HAL, and most parts being in C, we may yet see an x86 AOS (no, I have no inside info). But we first -needed- to be PPC because those machines were already there.
