Opinion Article : Amiga DE a Good Idea, Poor Execution

[Ohno]

Realtime work just means the code can run continuously without missing input.

Well.. actually realtime means you'll get a response within an absolutely guarantied amount of time. That time could just as well be half a day. So theoretically realtime doesn't even have to be fast.

And I think it's sad to see an article appear which is so flawed it's obvious the writer only wants to take a stab at Amiga Inc.

Amiga-Anywhere is running on multiple devices. Several PDA's and some phones already. There are some games out there which are a lot of fun to play and more are coming.

There is indeed no killer-app, but that was not really the idea behind it. We don't need to attract people to another platform, we want people to be able to play content on whatever platform they would like. The fact that Amiga-Anywhere is running underneath shouldn't even be noticable in the end.

Regards,

Onno

[Ohno]

I can't imagine programming anything in assembler, anymore, except for minor optimizations. It takes too long,[...]

While I would normally agree with you, I think the situation for VP-assembly is a bit different. This is a macro-assembler with a lot of macro's provided by intent already. Those macro's allow for things like for-next loops, if-then-else, using 'normal' math (like (1+4)*5) instead of having to do it with add's and mulu's (which you _can_ still do btw). On top of that it supports oo-programming. So in the end it is a lot like C++ programming. Sure when you get started it takes you a while to build up a library of reusable objects, but that's true for any new oo-language.

Regards,

Onno

[Ohno]

@bhoggett

I personally considder intent to be a platform just like I considder a PC and an Amiga or Mac to be a platform.
Each of these platforms don't support memory protection, but some OS's on some of these platforms _do_ support memory protection.
Tao doesn't HAVE to support memory protection for it to become a reality. Amiga Inc. could still build their own OS on top of this virtual machine, which does support memory protection. Not that I think they are... but they COULD


@Wayne

This might account for why Tao currently has a finished product which is shipping on a few devices while Amiga DE/AA has (for all intents and real purposes) not seen the light of day except as a game pack.

Well.. AA going to be available on most M$-devices, which account for a LOT of devices. If you look at this page you might notice Amiga-Anywhere being named as a game-engine for smartphone.


Regards,

Onno

[Ohno]

Slight correction if I may. Intent is an OS, Elate is a platform.

I stand corrected, you are right.

[Ohno]

I have two copies of the SDK, one for Windows and one for Linux. I've certainly spent some time 'using' it, but found nothing to get all that excited about. It was the concept that was more interesting than the actual implementation at this stage.

I was like that for a long time as well and I refused to sign an NDA and SDA for quite some time as well (mostly because I was to lazy to fax them over). It wasn't until I signed both the NDA and the SDA _and_ I got involved in an actual project working with VP-coding that I really started to enjoy it and see the beauty of it. Especially the way Tao implemented java into the environment is very smart and powerfull. It is just pretty cool to be able to write high performance java-classes in vp assembly  :-D

To be completely honest, I too thought that I had thrown away my money (I ordered a version for Windows and a version for Linux as well). And I do think people who are not under NDA deserve to get a bit more for their money.
Even when I signed an NDA I though there was not much to it at that time, since the actual fun stuff was only accessible to people  under SDA.

Everyone is free to choose wether they sign the NDA & SDA. Personally I didn't regret my choice for a second so far. But I can understand people objecting to it and I also think Amiga Inc. could have been much clearer on what their NDA/SDA-demands before people would purchase the SDK.

Regards,

Onno

[Ohno]

However, I've noticed that everyone who says how cool AmigaDE is fails to come up with any real reason why it is cool or why it's better than any alternatives. Since I'm on the outside and will stay that way, I'd be interested to know.

I thought I did tell you before. I like it because I love the technology. The clever way of implementing java in it (I write a lot of java-classes in assembly). I love the fun of it.
I love it for the same reason I love to run Amithlon. I love it for the same reason I'm here at Amiga.org.
Why am I interested in Amiga OS while I get much more functionality with either Windows or Linux? It is a feeling. You either like it or you don't.
Amiga-Anywhere will not be for everyone, just like AmigaOS is not for everyone or Linux is not for everone..

I used to love programming assembly on the commodore 64. I liked C-programming on the Amiga and I hated assembly-programming on X86.
And now I love programming in the AA-environment. Why? I don't know.. sometimes you just like something. Probably a matter of taste.

I'm not trying to convince you to like it and I respect the fact that you DON't like it after trying it. I don't respect people slagging it off without even actually looking at it.

Regards,

Onno

[Ohno]

@Francis Charig

Hi there,

nice of you to drop in here. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to intent 2. Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Onno

[Ohno]

@Derf

If you dont want the windows one i'll buy it off you for a few quid.

Do note that that version will be outdated. It was based on intent 1.1 I believe. We're currently working towards intent 1.3, which had a lot of changes. Programs written for the old SDK will probably not even work on 1.4.

If you want to develop for the Amiga-Anyhwere platform try and contact Gary Peake or Fleecy Moss at Amiga Inc. If you sign a NDA you might get access to an up to date release  ;-)

Regards,

Onno