I'm New Here and to Amiga - Please Help...

[TDude2K]

Hey all! I'm new here and to Amiga. I've never operated an Amiga or played with an emulator, but I've often heard about how good the Amiga is. I've been a Mac user since 1999, but have been an Apple fan since I was 1987 when I was 5 years old. I've also dabbled with PC's. I like the Classic Mac OS, but don't care much for OS X, User Interface wise. I was wondering about the Amiga for a possible future platform change. Could someone explain to me where Amiga stands today as opposed to back then. I'm a complete newbie here. I've heard a lot of times how good the Amiga is.

It's been a heck of a year for me. My Dad was diagnosed with both bladder and prostate cancer earlier this year and he's been through numerous radiation treatments, but his prognosis looks good. I've been helping him out with his medical bills (what Medicare won't pay). I face a choice I'm afraid of whether I should stick with the Mac or move to the Amiga. I was wondering if anyone here had an Amiga of any kind they don't need anymore that I could kind of toy around with to get an idea of what the Amiga is like? I can't afford anything right now because of helping my Dad with his medical bills. I do have 2 Mac CD's with TONS of old Mac apps, old Mac games and system software as well as the updates for them dating back to the original Mac that a friend burned for me a few years back that I would gladly trade for an Amiga. That's all I have to offer now though. :-(

Either way, I'd like to learn about the Amiga. Is the Amiga up to date enough to completely replace using a PC or Mac? Any tips and tricks about the Amiga world? I'd like to know whatever anyone wants to tell me. :-)

My name is Tommy. Thanks for having me here. :-)

Take care,
Tommy

[TDude2K]

I want to thank everyone for welcoming me and for the suggestions. At current, I can't afford anything right now. I may try an emulator. The main reason I thought about jumping to the Amiga platform is because although I do like Apple, and always have since I was 5 in 1987, I just think that OS X is a step backwards when it comes to User Interface. The Classic Mac OS to me was simple, refined, maybe not perfect, but it didn't add in all that cutesy crap and bog down. I miss the Application menu in the right hand corner, the REAL Apple menu and I hate the Dock. I know there are haxies that will get you this stuff and that you turn the Dock off, but adding haxies makes the OS somewhat less stable.

I know that the Amiga is not what it used to be as far as popularity, but I'm no stranger to limitations. It's actually a challenge to me. The Amiga world is confusing though. I'm hearing of a lot of variations of the AmigaOS such as 4.0, Morph, AROS, etc. What is the difference between them? Which do all of you like better?

The trade offer for the Mac CD's is still available if anyone has any old Amiga laying around they don't need anymore. That's all I can offer at the moment. I really want to learn about the Amiga OS. The Amiga OS just seems like it's modern enough, yet it's not overloaded with cute aqua crap. Am I wrong?

Thanks everyone for everything. :-)

Take care,
Tommy