First Amiga 500

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Question 2: Isn't there a way to create Amiga compatible floppies by using 3.5 floppies by formatting from a PC running Windows?

To actually write floppy disks, you'll need a catweasel board and a floppy drive in a PC.  I don't think Jens is making them anymore.  I have one and they're nice to have, especially if you have other retro hardware.  But it's an expensive solution.

Assuming you have some workbench disks to get you off the ground, there's ways to transfer disk image files over a serial connection and write them with your amiga.  This can present a chicken or egg problem.

There are also a couple of devices available now that allow you to replace the floppy drive with an sd card reader.  You select the disk image on a little lcd display and the amiga is none the wiser.

I think at this point the best solution would be to pick up an ACA500.  You can use WinUAE to create a bootable workbench hard drive on a compact flash card, then boot the 500 off the compact flash card.  Then you can use another compact flash card formatted for fat32 to transfer image files.

brian

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For making floppies, the best bet is using a Cat-weasel? I'm open to other suggestions. What I want to do is to create floppies from a PC running Windows and play games on my new Amiga 500. I also want to copy Amiga forever workbench files and install WB2, if possible. Is there a better option for me?

I would like to use standard 3.5" floppies. Could I format them using WinUAE and a standard PC floppy drive, or will it only work with an Amiga floppy drive with cat-weasel (or less time consuming)? Is gotek a viable option since I would only have to click, drag, and play?

Standard PC hardware for hard drives and CF card interfaces can write any format including those used by the Amiga.  This is why you can write a CF card with WinUAE and a PC and be able to read it on an Amiga.  

Floppies are a different matter.  The standard floppy controller on a PC can't create the Amiga format even if you plug in an Amiga floppy drive, hence the need for a Catweasel board.  With the Catweasel, you can write Amiga floppies (among several others) with a standard PC floppy drive.

I agree with the others, find a way to use CF cards or SD cards.  Then if you want floppies, write them with the Amiga.