Which OS Would Be The Best Amiga Way Forward...

[XDelusion]

P.O.S. would be my first vote. It's so awesome!

Since it was not an option, I would have to say MorphOS, though I can't say I ever used OS 4, and probably won't as I've yet to find a reason to spend so much cash to run it.

Anyhow, an observation in regards to the AROS votes...

I've a strong feeling none of these guys have ever used MorphOS in the long term. You would not believe how well polished this OS is. I mean really!!!

[XDelusion]

I agree that morphos is probably more polished, but you have to remember, AROS is also open source and runs on just about any spare pc anyone has laying around.
 
I keep saying someday I'll get a mac mini or emac to try morphos out, but so far I haven't yet. If it ran on x86 I'd probably have tried it right away.

Convienance is often an overlooked factor in choice of os. AROS is easier to try and easier to get an extra system to play with it on.
 
Open source is also a very attractive part of why I like AROS.
 
Steven

I like AROS, I like the idea of an Open Source semi-Amiga compatible X86 based OS, but my experience with it over the past few years has not been without MUCH frustration. There is a very limited chip set combination which AROS works with. Sure you can get it to boot on plenty of machines out there, but you can't get it to run smoothly without frequent lock ups, slow down, and crashes. I even have a machine that seems to check out on AROS's compatibility list, and it does... until you throw a game like Quake at it and try to run it in full screen. And God forbid you attempt to launch a classic Amiga game in ADF format, or to try to get Workbench to co-exist with AROS without a system lock up within 5 minutes or less.

So no, the "any old PC" pitch doesn't fly here like it did with BeOS back in the day. And "Convienance?" Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! NO! At least not yet.

 Though...

...from what I can tell from the Youtube videos, AROS works well on the Imica PC's that are being sold. In fact I'm highly considering buying one so I can actually enjoy AROS in the ways AROS users state they are enjoying it. I mean if I could get it to run as well as it does on those Youtube videos, I'd be elated! I'd be even more elated if AROS or MorphOS could provide support for a laptop and wireless to boot, but that's another story...


Anyhow, ya, there's my AROS experience. She arouses my hopes, then leaves me broken hearted and alone.

[XDelusion]

One other point, and not to be made to bash AROS, but rather to point out a reality.

 Amiga apps and games will NEVER be compatible with AROS unless re-written and obviously only a small percent of those programs will ever get re-written. That being so, AROS (in regards to the retro Amiga experience), must and can only take place via emulation. Thus AROS's main highlight is the fact that it is a means to emulate Amiga within an Amiga like environment, free of the presence of Linux or Windows. That's my current attraction.

MorphOS on the other hand, can run MANY Amiga programs without emulation, and at speeds that far surpass emulation speeds even on high end AROS compatible hardware. This is an edge that AROS will not have until PC hardware begins to make giant strides in speed at an affordable (disposable) price. Though, for the time being, AROS does have the JIT edge, which MorphOS currently suffers without for it really needs it to be able to play that pile of software which can not be run natively under MorphOS. Of course JIT is being ported to PPC so time will change all...

As for me, I like to play with what ever I can afford, and I personally can not wait for the Natami!

[XDelusion]

Bloodline: Is it as good as WorkBench 3.1 or better? Also, how's it work with the resources? How does it run on a stock A600? Is it fully compatible, is the speed I'd expect from WB 3.1 intact, or would I need something more like an 030?

Likewise, how does it handle with something like a 50to80Mhz 060 with 32 to 64Mb or RAM?

[XDelusion]

As for MorphOS, still say it sux big time, looks far too much like these Crapple Macs I'm using and they suck big time too... (sorry just couldn't resist that wee dig)...

Aghh, that's just the eye candy. I'm not a big fan of it either so I turn it off unless I'm showing it off to a friend that depends on Eye candy in order to enjoy their OS experience. It makes me feel like I'm treating MorphOS like a cheap whore. :/

I should remember to take some screen grabs of my MorphOS desktop when I get home. It looks and behaves like how you'd expect Work Bench to behave, except for more polished and again, very friendly with Amiga software that does not make direct calls to the Amiga hardware, which again results in us all depending upon emulation, old hardware, or Natami and the other related project who's name eludes me right now.

Now of course the ever so expensive Amiga X1000 is supposed to featured that extra processor which I read somewhere could be used in place of the original Amiga chip set. So am I to presume that this means that in the future Amiga OS 4.x wil be able to run all or nearly all Amiga native software, without emulation, even it it does depend upon the original chip set?

If this becomes the case, or if we could get a PC/Mac G4 compatible PCI card with Amiga chip set clones on it for use with our Work Bench variant of choice, I'd be sold! I'd save money, and make it happen!

[XDelusion]

WolftoMoon: I was just about to say something about ARM. That would be the wisest of moves the MorphOS team could make right now, at least as far as I can see. Heck even the next version of Windows is going to run on it. I'd say it's here to stay and the future of x86 is perhaps coming to a close...

[XDelusion]

I had a feeling you would be posting soon.

And yes, considering the amount of productivity apps that run without emulation on MorphOS, an integration of UAE with the OS would seem pointless at this time.

[XDelusion]

But Amiga clock is the program most die hard Amiga users use the most. What else could we possibly need support for?


Bottom line for this discussion. MorphOS works now, and is very affordable. EmuAmiga and all this this speculation about what AROS will grow into...

...is still something in the future, and judging by it's record of slow development, a long way off.

[XDelusion]

So ya, give it ten years or more and it might be somewhat caught up with MorphOS in terms of compatability.

In the mean time, polish off the native Amiga port, and we'll have our self freely available Amiga boot disks for use to format hard drives, perform repairs to our Work Bench installs, etc. It could be the new Amiga 911 disk base. Wouldn't it?

See, every port has it's use.