Version 3.0

[amigadave]

I lost track.
I thought that after amigadave showed morphos 3.0 beta at Amiwest2011 on his powerbookg4, the latest version was to be released.

What happened?

I have a g4 powerbook 1.67 and would like to retry morphos.
I did install 2.6 on my kids emac and mac mini...but they took back their computers. (sigh)

m

Like others have stated, it is supposed to be released before the end of this year, but there is no specific date set for it's release that I have seen anywhere.

It is also possible that it could be released today, or that it could be late and not be released until a month or two from today.  You know how unpredictable software development can be.  Most likely they will release it later this month, when they said they would.

Everyone should realize that support for the G4 PowerBooks will be a "Work in Progress" for a while and not all features will be finished with the initial release of MorphOS3.0.  It might be 3.1, 3.2, or even 3.3 before the MorphOS Dev. Team is satisfied with their work on drivers for the hardware included in the G4 PowerBooks, such as 3D graphic acceleration, PCMCIA/Cardbus slot support, Ethernet driver support, or any number of other optimizations that they are working on.  The presentation that Fab did not too long ago explained much of what is still being worked on and the fact that not all features would be completed in the initial release of MorphOS3.0.

MorphOS3.0 with support for a few models of the G4 PowerBook is a significant step forward and includes a lot of work beyond MorphOS2.7.  Many people are excited and waiting for this release.

I expect it to boost the MorphOS user base by quite a few dozen new users, as well as many existing users that will add a G4 PowerBook to their existing MorphOS compatible computer(s).

Writing drivers for undocumented hardware must be difficult and probably not much fun at times, so I have the greatest admiration for the MorphOS Development Team for taking on the task of porting MorphOS to so many undocumented Mac PPC systems.  They are a talented bunch of guys.

[amigadave]

Have my Power Mac on it's way to give 3.0 a try :-) Just wish they supported more video cards, there are some cheaper options (and faster) than 9000/9100/9200/9250 ;-)

I had a friend re-flash my Radeon 8500 PC video card to work in my G4 PowerMac, so I can use it when running MorphOS2.7.  I think it might be the fastest video card that is fully supported by MorphOS with 3D drivers.

It is a 128mb VRAM video card, but unfortunately the Mac bios for it only allows 64mb of that VRAM to be seen when converted and used in a Mac.  Since I never ran into a low video RAM problem with my current Radeon 9000Pro, which only has 64mb of VRAM, I am not expecting any problems with the Radeon 8500 with only half of its 128mb of VRAM recognized.

I highly recommend the Radeon 8500 (but not the 8500LE) for use in a MorphOS G4 PowerMac.  Soon we expect more drivers for other newer and faster (or as fast) video cards than the 8500, but until they are finished, you can't go wrong with the Radeon 8500.  If you can find one on eBay, or Craig's List at a low price, buy it.

As for the question about when will MorphOS3.0 be released, I can only repeat what I previously wrote.  Writing drivers for undocumented hardware is not an easy task.  I would guess that there is one or more part of MorphOS3.0 for the G4 PowerBook that is giving the MorphOS Dev. Team problems, or they are just not satisfied with some parts that have been worked on, but are not really finished.

No telling what is holding up the release, but I know from my own experience with prior releases of MorphOS, that the standard of quality that the MorphOS Dev. Team holds themselves to on each new release, is very high, so I am sure that they don't want to lower that standard for this very important milestone in the development of MorphOS, by releasing a version of MorphOS3.0 that is any less in quality than their prior releases.

I have confidence that there is a good reason for the delay and I agree with the MorphOS Dev. Team's prior (and apparently current) practice of not releasing versions of MorphOS that are not ready for the general public.  I can confirm from my use of the beta version that was given to me last Oct. for the AmiWest Show, that it was not yet ready for release at that time, but I won't comment on what parts still needed work.

I can only repeat my earlier advice of patience.  The MorphOS Dev. Team has an excellent track record for knowing when their work is ready for a release, so trust them to know when 3.0 is ready for release.

[amigadave]

Two more weeks!

that is the same "Two more weeks!" as the delivery date for Aladdin v6.0 for Amiga.

In other words, they will be done when they are done.

@smerf,

If you are going to get so upset about MorphOS users writing about the hardware that it runs on, you had better avoid the MorphOS -- Hardware requirements and availability discussion forum here on Amiga.org.

You do realize that this site supports many different Amiga inspired platforms and has separate forums for each of them.  You would experience a lot less upset and sick feelings if you would just avoid reading anything in the MorphOS forum sections, as the most popular hardware that MorphOS runs on right now is made by a manufacturer that makes you ill just to think of.  That is a personal problem that not many members here share with you.