TDScompute wrote:
Amiga should really be an OS that runs on industry standard hardware.
Ship with drivers for common video cards, audio, etc... and allow for new drivers to be written for new hardware very easily.
....
Amiga OS 4.1 should run on the Intel/AMD platform!
I agree 100%, the idea that what makes Amiga, amiga anymore is that it has to run on Motorola or RISC chip isn't grounded in todays reality. CISC vs. RISC isn't even really relevant anymore with the advancements of modern CPU design. I'd be happy if they went with AMD as the default supplier but there's no reason that it couldn't run on Intel too. That's just because I don't like the way Intel plays in the sandbox. If we keep choosing esoteric chips that aren't going to be readily available in the future or have their designs advanced that does us no good.
How about this -
Runs Amiga OS 4.X
PCI Express
SATA(IDE is obsolete and even optical drives are SATA now.)
USB 2.0/3.0 (Time frame?)
DDR2
ATX Form-factor(Standard now as BTC didn't catch on.)
Built on WUXGA and UXGA video.
Here's my minor twist - An emulation layer for OCS/ECS/AGA - either software or hardware depending on which offers best price performance ratio and compatibility. UAE already exists why not use it on the back end for running old software.
Then again hardware may be best, If you made this backwards compatibility depended on a PCI Express card and the OS run on standard x64 hardware then you could bundle the card with the OS. This would act as a great form of copy protection. If anyone wanted backwards compatibility they'd have to buy the card to put into their PC before they installed the OS.
Initial Accessories
Legacy user support)USB HD Amiga compatible floppy drive(Read all old Amiga floppies)
USB Zorro III/video card cage case. (All the use of Video Toaster and other Zorro cards)
I'm just dreaming here though. Most of the new designs are RISC based and we already know the SAM440 and what Amiga, Inc. says they'll be releasing as new hardware.
I'd be happy to just have a stable platform to run AmigaOS 4.0 for less than $1000USD that isn't running on over 10 year old hardware.
-Nyle
