Amiga OS 5 prediction

[ne_one]

@DonnyEMU

They have to make an architectural leap at sometime. Seems like it's time to me..

Whether it's QNX or a flavour of Unix I would also claim that it's the best strategy. It wouldn't be popular with the diehards, but it would offer the shortest time to market and the best ROI.

I see QNX as technically compelling but more of a long shot because it has traditionally been directed towards a specialized market. It also has limited mainstream application support.

A customized Unix variant would bring with it a solid application base and army of developers but it doesn't fit the scalability mandate.

[ne_one]

@billt

Wasn't there a plan based on QNX back in the GateMiga days?

To some extent. It was Jim Collas who outlined a game plan based on a Linux core.

[ne_one]

@downix

Ironically that is something the AmigaOS riding on top of it would bring. While not huge support, it does bring enough which, when combined with what QNX already has, does make a viable, even if limited, platform.

In this scenario, I'm not convinced that existing applications or the remaining developer base would bring much to the fold. However, there would be compelling new opportunities.

It's tough to say if a new generation platform would retain any elements of the traditional Amiga. A replacement desktop and the CLI would likely adopt some conventions but who would be driving this process? To this point we haven't even heard a rumour of any major players being involved. So who's doing the development?

[ne_one]

@amigadave

QNX already runs on so many different CPUs and it can scale from cell phone size devices, all the way up to network servers and beyond.

Which does seem to fit with this scalability mandate.

However, at the same time we're hearing claims about outperforming OSX, which presumably relates more to the desktop environment. In this area QNX is obviously lacking. Thankfully, developing a user environment is much less formidable than taking on an entire OS.

I can't for the life of me see an advantage for Amiga Inc., or the community to start from scratch in building a new OS

Agreed. Which makes you wonder why they simply didn't do this in the beginning.

[ne_one]

@jarroyo

I encourage this crowd to look deeply into the platform A Inc has chosen to host OS 5 on...

If I remember correctly, this was targetted for OS 4. OS5 of course, is supposed to be platform agnostic.

A significantly more efficient architecture than what the PC and Mac has out there today.

Which is great, if you have applications that demand these resources and the money to invest in one.

Steril707 wrote:
An Unix based Amiga OS is still uninteresting to the average Joe imo

I 100% agree with you on this point.

And who exactly falls into the demographic of an "Average Joe"? Most consumers don't know the difference between a computer chip and a potato chip let alone the core technology that the operating system is based on.

If by "Average Joe" you mean Amiga fanatic circa 1992 you're correct because they believe that all good operating systems and computing platforms are made by elves at the North Pole.

[ne_one]

@Steril707

No, i mean ->the average Joe<- not being concerned about Amiga at all, that's what we talk about here, isn't it?..

It's an important distinction.

Either way, you would be addressing a niche market, not the mainstream. Attempting to sell a user on a replacement operating system is a pointless exercise because no matter how good the technology is it would still be irrelevant.

It's difficult to say if any of this is grounded in reality but if it is, the desktop version of OS5 would be targeted first to legacy users. There are over 5 million original users out that there that may be willing to buy the software because of the branding and nostalgia. With decent bundling and good word of mouth, there is a secondary audience of curiosity seekers and first time hobbyists.

Will this lead to global domination? Hardly. Would it be a viable business? Probably.

Plus, you will just piss off the few people left who want their Amiga OS being a genuine Amiga OS

Oh well. If they have the resources to pump out proprietary hardware and software in a cost-effective manner more power to them. It's not going to happen.

In a year or two AROS will be functional enough to please what's left of the Amiga elves

Perhaps. If so, this crowd will satisfy their own needs.

[ne_one]

@downix

To produce it today, that same A500 w/ monitor would run you, brand new around $100... the market for integrated components is exploding, and growing, faster than the desktop PC market.

All well and good, but the point here is that you only have so many resources at your disposal and designing, manufacturing and supporting hardware is expensive, high risk and low margin.

Can you have it both ways? Yes, select partners and let them battle it out. If they can build a better mouse trap you expand your user base. If it tanks, you pick another dance partner.

Even better, certify existing technologies that support your solution and let people decide which is better, faster or cheaper.

And what freedom from hardware? Can you go to your local computer store and buy something other than Intel or AMD? You just traded one plantation for another, that's all.

If the software is platform-independent or multi-platform you will have options based on what the market makes available. It's not the responsibility of the operating system to promote competition and diversity -- there will always be some level of dependency.