Hi there MontrealCL and welcome!
I am a newbie to the Amiga community as well. This forum has been very good to me as I get up and running.
I think the platform has great potential for coming back and though it has lain dormant for low these many years (corporate-ly speaking), it is through people like those here that the platform has escaped computer exstinction! I always admired Amiga users for their die-hard love of the platform (Mac users are only second in this catagory, but even Mac is no longer Mac, it is a FreeBSD UNIX with a really pretty front end and some propritory utilities.
It is my belief that Windows is not as popular as M$ would have us believe and they are losing people to alternative Operating Systems as fast as they may be gaining new customers. It seems only those companies (not individuals) that have some solid need for ROI (return on investment) are the people supporting whatever M$ does right now. We need a viable alternative that does not have the mighty redmond giant's hand somewhere in it, that leaves AmigaOS and Linux so far.
It is my hope, making this post a bit shorter, that Amiga takes its place as the competition... If Apple can take itself from 2% to 8% of the PC market since 1991, then certainly someone with a better idea can take another percent, I'd like to see a fair analysis and indeed would like to see companies like Vivendi (aka Sierra Online), Techmo, GeorgeLucas, and EA port for the new OS4 the best games... I know the platform can be every bit as good as Mac or Windows and I think more stable (IMHO).
This is why I in particular am switching over to Amiga starting with my A500 which I should obtain tomorrow evening. It was delayed because the fellow that is bringing it up to me had to watch his kid at the last minute on this last Friday. Since the unit is like new in a box, I hope to learn a great deal and be able to utilize it in place of my main windows machine which will either become a Linux box or be sold, haven't decided yet :-)
Welcome again and may you find friends in this forum, that is exactly my hope. Also, utilize your local user group if one exists, much to my joy... the Kansas City Amiga User Group is still active and they are another resource locally for help! This forum is also a very valuable resource as well!!!
Happy computing and may we help usher in the future of Computing which I can only hope includes AmigaOS!
