So what is XMOS good for?

[koaftder]

I'm thinking of porting the compiler over to AROS, just to be a dick, just so AROS users can brag that they got to play with the cheap XMOS dev kits first without paying 2,000 for the privilege of having the uber l33t new hyperion OS/mobo combo and still have to compile their junk on a mac or pc.

https://www.xmos.com/technology/design-tools-source

[koaftder]

How much RAM does it have?  64K?

64k per core shared between the hardware threads. The XS1-L1 on the x1000 is a single core chip.

[koaftder]

How come people already know the board will be underpowered? How come people already know the XMOS chip is useless?

I've been working with these chips for months. It's a neat little micro controller with cool architecture but it doesn't bring anything to the table on a desktop machine. There's nothing it can do that isn't better suited to doing on the host processor.



I'm not just trolling here, I'm actually using these things in projects.

[koaftder]

We know what can't be done with it, however.


Somehow the whole marketing drive of this "X1000" seems to be built around this chip. If it's not so important, then why make such a big deal about it? I find this odd.

My guess is that they are hoping to sell "expansion" modules that utilize the x-link switching feature of these devices. SO basically you can pay 100 bucks or something for each "device" that will do something lame. They're hoping to get developer support for it, which ain't gonna happen because it's lame and uninteresting and unprofitable in this context.

[koaftder]

Blink LEDs at 50MHz