Pegasos/AmigaONE confusion.

[kedawa]

I've been thinking about buying a PPC computer, and I don't really want a mac, so I'm considering getting either an AmigaOne or a Pegasos motherboard.  The problem is that I'm not really clear on which OS's each system supports.  I'm assuming that both run PPCLinux and OSX(via MacOnLinux), but I'd appreciate verification of this.  
What I'm primarily concerned with is whether or not it is possible to run MorphOS on an A1 or AOS4 on Pegasos.  For that matter, is there any way to run AOS4 or Morphos on a Mac?  
The reason I want to know all this is that I want a computer that will let me play with as many exotic OS's as possible.  I'm not looking to replace my PC or anything like that.

[kedawa]

Thanks for the input, I'll definitely look into the Pegasos II more seriously, although it will probably be several months before I buy anything.  
I'm surprised that OSX runs on other PPCs, but MorphOS and AOS4 don't, since OSX was also meant to run on proprietary hardware.  Is there some major technical issue in the way, or just not enough interest?
btw, I'm really surprised at how quickly I got replies on this thread.  I thought an Amiga forum would be a ghost town!  I'm glad to see there's still active amiga users out there.

[kedawa]

So I guess it really comes down to whether I want MorphOS or OS4 then, right?  
I'm not really sure which I would prefer at this point.  I'm not planning on running any older amiga software, so I don't really care about that aspect of it.  
What I really want is a machine that has at least one OS that is mature enough to do everyday tasks (web browsing, a bit of C programming, some basic graphics editing, etc.) and several other OS's to dink around with.  
I would also like to run some sort of classic amiga emulator, as well, just so I can play the games that I had as a kid, when I had an A500.  
As I said, I'm not looking to replace my windows box just yet, but I do want to branch out a bit, and perhaps switch over entirely some time in the future.

[kedawa]

Hooligan_DCS wrote:

Well that made it very easy then: neither MorphOS or OS4 is for you, as you can't live even a day without old Amiga software.
Linux would be your choise then, on the other hand that is {bleep}e on A1, so we come to the conclusion that Pegasos is for you. Njet.
From there we continue and remember that you can run Linux on x86 much cheaper and better, so there you go. And as a bonus you can also run Win Xp if you want.

Your choice is everyday home-pc.

I see your point, but I also would like to run OSX at least some of the time, and I can't do that on x86.  If neither OS4 nor morphos are appropriate for everyday use, then I'll just be using OSX more often, I suppose.  
btw, I didn't realise that there's such a lack of native software for MorphOS and OS4.  I guess I'll have to track down some older amiga apps if and when I setup one of these OS's.  
The one concern I have at this point is that the Pegasos II apparently doesn't have USB 2.0 onboard, so I'm wondering if MorphOS has support for it.  If so, which chipsets have drivers available?  

[kedawa]

Well, it's been over a year since I first posted this thread, and I still don't have a Pegasos or an A1.

My x86 machine was stolen, so I caved in and bought a Mac mini, which is more than adequate for messing around with BSD and linux, at least for me.

Anyway, my interest in the Amiga was recently rekindled after procuring some classic Amigas for a customer, and reading an article about the A1 Micro (http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/amiga.ars).

I'm now very interested in building a new Amiga for a hobby machine.

I've been out of touch with the Amiga scene for the last year, and I've recently begun trying to catch up on what's been going on.

It's my understanding that there isn't much happening with MorphOS anymore, and AOS4 is finally nearing completion, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Pegasos II seems to be the same spec as it was a year ago, but I've read that a newer Peg mobo is in the works.
The thing is, I don't think I'd have much use for one, as I already have a similarly capable PPC system, and MorphOS has lost much of its appeal for me if it is in fact 'dead.'

The A1, on the other hand, is far more tempting to me than it was a year ago.  The A1 micro's mini-ITX form factor and onboard video and audio make it a perfect fit for one of those cube-shaped SFF cases.

I do have a few specific questions, though.

Are the pricing and availability of the A1 likely to improve a lot after AOS4 is released?

How is the USB keyboard/mouse support in the firmware and also in the OS itself?

Lastly (I think), are there any vendors in North America offering complete A1 micro systems?

[kedawa]

I suspected that might be the case, but it's hard to find information on Morrphos for some reason.  Google only returnred four results when I searched for it.

I guess the Pegasos/MorphOS option is still on the table.  :-)

[kedawa]

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with my mac.
I've only been messing around with live distros so far, since I don't want to wipe OSX and I haven't gotten an external drive yet.

For now, I think I'll stick to the wait-and-see approach with the A1.
Hopefully by early '06 the price will be a bit easier to swallow and the OS will be ready.

BTW, Has anyone else had trouble with the ISO of the native i386 port of AROS?

I have an old K6-266 collecting dust in my apartment, and I figured I'd give AROS a try, but I can't get the ISO extracted on my mac.
EDIT: Nevermind, I just had a corrupt download.  It took me three attempts, but I finally got it.

[kedawa]

I actually poked around those sites before I revived this thread, but there just doesn't seem to be that much new info out there to begin with.
Most of the news I've found on MorphOS and OS4 is either speculation or technical info that just goes over my head.
I realize that it's going to take some time to wrap my head around things, but it's a bit baffling that neither OS has a dedicated, official website.

[kedawa]

Just based on specifications, I see no reason to choose the Amy over the micro.

Unless there's a significant difference in price, which there might be since I'm in Canada and not Europe, I don't see the advantage.

Being able to use vanilla SDRAM in the Amy is nice, but AFAIK, all eyetech boards ship with memory anyway, so it's a moot point.

On a side note, I've started messing around with AROS on an old x86 machine that I had laying around.
After the initial struggle to get the native port installed onto the HD, I'm having a blast with it, and I could see this thing keeping me busy until OS4 hits.

[kedawa]

Actually, someone from Troika posted on another site that they'd like to get the price to be around US$400, and that the £400 estimate is a sort of worst case scenario.
Hopefully having two different hardware vendors for the platform will drive down prices to the point that it'll be cheaper to build an Amiga than it would be to buy a Mac.