ACube and A-EON announce One Vision on future Amiga co-operation

[Iggy]

You are absolutely right.

I don't have any objections to PPC per se, it's not like I'm against it for the sake of it. But if you can't produce a realistic product based on it (affordable to regular people without the need to sell your first born child and your left kidney, *and* performance/capabilities that at least is worthy the current decade), then there is no point, and other options should be considered. IMHO of course.

And when were Amiga users ever realistic?

You ought to be satisfied that the MorphOS team has announced an eventual shift to a 64bit platform on either X64 or ARM.
But the PPC version is not going away, and we really do not need a repetition of this every time a new announcement is made.

Get used to it.
These are not our decisions.
And I, for one, would buy the new machine if funds allowed.

And as to performance, the G5 does not have enough for you?
To me it seems like over kill.

Edit - On realistic - How realistic was it when the MorphOS developers got together with this thought "Hey, let's re-create the entire operating system, but base it on PPC instructions with just in time interpretation to run 68K program. And we can add new features and support for things like OpenGL"

Sounds pretty crazy to me.
Like it?

[Iggy]

The high cost and slow development keeps it a hobby. Having cheap hardware and slow development, you've got potential.

Also if you want something cheaper, the FPGA arcade suits me better. How about OS 4.1 in 68k?

How about AROS68K on a 200 to 266 MHz V4 Coldfire?
That would be really cheap.

[Iggy]

I guess we dont have mods here to keep things on topic? Also to stop situations where posters SIGS are longer than their posts - no names ;-)

Interesting discussion - maybe. Related to thread title? Not really.   Now I know why I come here less and less... :-(

We seem to be very much on topic as the topic is about our two sources of PPC motherboards and a few posters are questioning the merits of such boards.

@takemehomegrandma

I can not include all that you wrote - but are we attracting new users?

Well, I didn't use an Amiga when it was still supported, and I'm a relatively new user (I picked up MorphOS when PowerMac support was started).
So...YES.

Also, I have both G4 and G5 Pmacs.
The MDD is considerably noisier than the G5.

@bloodline

We already know you prefer ARM, but since you are not involved in my OS of choice, that is irrelevant.
Hopefully when MorphoS mutates into 64 bit it will be on ARM.

[Iggy]

Ofcourse there is a future in PPC based motherboards.

Obviously, they are planning new one.
So the future is assured.
And I'll probably buy one.

[Iggy]

What's refreshing about Trevor Dickinson is that he's a CEO who seems to have integrity, follows through on what he promises, doesn't promise what he can't deliver, and is pursuing Amiga development based on a personal passion rather than a drive to make a lot of money.

Isn't this what we were all begging for during the Bill McEwen years?

You can count on Amigans to complain whether they get what they want or not.

OK, TMHGM, I WILL purchase an X2000 (or whatever it is called).
Where do I sign?

[Iggy]

No, I considered the X1000, but it is not the machine Paul Gentle wanted to build.
When the MorphOS community was still exploring the MPC8610 and I was looking at the MPC8640/8641, Paul suggest to me that the Qorlq line would be a better basis for a board.
And that is what this new board is based on.
If I really wanted to "put my money where my mouth is", I'd discontinue my 68040 and Coldfire projects and focus on the Qorlq line.
Specifically the soon to be released 1.4 GHz dual and quad core T1022 and T1042.
They could probably be brought to market at about Acube's price range with better performance (they use the same e5500 core that the processors Trevor is going to use do - but only at about 2/3 the clock speed and with fewer PCI-E lanes).

So, just in case you didn't know, PPC is not entirely dead (nor is it "restin after a long swauk").

But I do, and always have, concede this point to you, ARM makes better economic sense.

So hopefully MorphOS will split, 64 bit adopting the ARM or X64 ISA, and the 32 bit version still focusing on legacy compatibility on PPC devices.

[Iggy]

Not discounting the fact you like the PPC ISA, though I'm not sure what makes it attractive to you, I'm keen to know how you draw the conclusion that te PPC isn't dead? No new designs use it. No major manufacturer supports it for mainstream usage and there are no road maps for the future.  I can't even find any opensource FPGA implementations

There are other companies developing PPC, but the company to pay attention to is the source of the line I mentioned (Qorlq), Freescale.
And, yes, they have published timelines for all recent cores.
As to major manufacturers, no business or home computer manufacturer uses these anymore, thus the shift to communications applications.
But they can be used for computer applications.
In fact the 24 thread e6500 cored products look ideal for server applications.

What do I see in the PPC, well its already 64bit.
Its available at speeds in excess of those that ARM operates at.
We already have two OS' coded for it.
Unlike ARM, I can get processors with built-in PCI and PCI-E support.

LIKE ARM, its RISC.
LIKE ARM, its not X64/Intel IP.

Lots of reasons.

While you are slowly coaxing me toward a more tolerant attitude toward Linux, I still prefer more compact OS'.

And micro kernel, so...PPCs and MorphOS.
Anything else you want explained?

A change in ISAs would/will take years.

Its going to happen (its not a maybe).

But right now, I have a solution I like available to me immediately.

[Iggy]

After I bought my X1000 somebody got a complete AmigaONE XE G4 1GHz system with 1GB ram 2 video cards, 320GB HD and a DVD rewriter for just over£400 IIRC.  Does the guy who bought it count as a new user?

Remember while some people might horde their old systems others sell their old system putting cheaper hardware onto the market and thus growing the users base.

THAT is actually a really good buy.
FASTER than the SAM440 or SAM460.
I'd love to try that with dual video cards (like a Radeon 9250 and a Voodoo4 or 5).

[Iggy]

A used PC wouldn't be worth that amount in the second market after 10 years.  

I expect your AmigaOne X1000 to hold its value in a similar way too.

Good point in favor of PPCs guys.
I don't think PegIIs have depreciated at all.