Old dog, new tech - possible?

[Iggy]

Well Ian, initially you could just buy a copy of AmigaForever.

And, if you are in the United States, AmigaOnTheLake has a good deal on an AmigaOS4.1 + AmigaForever bundle for $67.95 (or you can add Krzysztof "Radzik" Radzikowski's 'AmigaOS4.1 Emulation' book for an additional $17.00).

http://amigaonthelake.com/new-to-amiga-beginner-bundle/

[Iggy]

Isn't that exactly what he doesn't want, Amiga Forever (WinUAE+ROMs/Software) emulation and with the added complication of PPC emulation for OS4.

As far as I can tell, he only mentioned WinUAE.
AmigaForver does a fairly good job of automating many of the setup functions that are painful with just WinUAE.

And legacy hardware would offer much of the same difficulties.

And of course, you could always leave out the OS4 emulation.

[Iggy]

Isn't that exactly what he doesn't want, Amiga Forever (WinUAE+ROMs/Software) emulation and with the added complication of PPC emulation for OS4.

As far as I can tell, he only mentioned WinUAE.
AmigaForever does a fairly good job of automating many of the setup functions that are painful with just WinUAE.

Of course, you could always leave out the OS4 emulation.

And legacy hardware would offer much of the same difficulties.

[Iggy]

There are options like the minimig or a dedicated emulation platform like Ambian on the Rpi

And multiple FPGA options that will run the minimig core including Altera's DE-1 board, the Replay board, MIST...

[Iggy]

If you really just want to relive old classics, you'd still better buy a second hand A600/A1200, get a budget accelerator and CF card as Harddrive. These machines can be hooked up to the net if you want via a PCMCIA card and USB is possible via a clockport device.

Or, get a vampire accelerator (available for A600, expected for A1200). The A1200 vampire is expected to have USB/Network capabilities as addon hardware.

ALTHOUGH, this IS one of the more costly options (outside PPC OS4.1 hardware).

[Iggy]

Hmm...I quite like the look of AOS4.1 final edition as it looks like a modern take on workbench which can realistically be used in the 21st century for basic tasks - mail, browsing, media playback etc...Is this a fair assessment? Also can AOS4.1 definitely play any original Amiga game using WHDload?

Can anyone recommend the best cost effective hardware for AOS4.1 and where to buy?

Thanks,

Liam

Any OS4 fans want to address this?
I don't have a copy of OS4.1, and probably won't until at least mid-February.
And I'm not that familiar with how well RunInUAE handles legacy gaming.

As to hardware, once the A1222 (aka Tabor) is released, that will be the cheapest way to run OS4.1 outside of emulation via WinUAE.
Obviously, that board hasn't been my personal favorite, but the X5000 is a much more expensive (if more competent) option.

However, I do feel more comfortable running Amiga emulation under an NG OS, as there is a similarity between the host interface and the emulated interface that is missing in a Windows or Linux emulation environment.

AND an NG system will run native applications better than UAE will as UAE is limited to emulating rather dated and slow NG hardware.

Further, the pace of NG development seems to be accelerating slightly (if moving a bit bit faster than glacially slow can be said to be an improvement).

So...the legacy fanatics might discourage you from pursuing this option (which you seem interested in), but remember, if you follow their advice you'll ONLY be able to run legacy code.

[Iggy]

If you mainly want to use all the classic games from a500 and a1200 days I would steer clear of any OS4 hardware. Its extortionately priced and you'll gain nothing (in fact you'll lose things like performance and compatibility) vs a 10 year old junk PC).
OS4 euae is based on the very, very old version of uae called euae.
The double click an adf icon thing is very, very easy to implement on any other system.

Your latest signature seems very apt.
When running legacy apps under OS4, the hosting OS looks, feels, and has similar controls to the OS that the legacy app ran under.
That is not the case in a Windows environment.

[Iggy]

And conversely, if someone wants to run both AmigaOS 3.1 and 4.1 software on the same machine, a PC isn't an ideal choice as you are forced to run the emulation as legacy hardware supplemented by a PPC add on card of limited power (with a 603 or 604 cpu).

So, if you're running PPC software, an PC is a poor choice, AND while some PPC systems ARE a pricey option, they do provide a more authentic look and feel and certainly ARE capable of running both legacy and NG code.

Its all up to what you value and how much you are willing to spend.
And, as I've mentioned a few too many times, that means I'm buying an X5000 system and running a triple boot MorphOS, OS4.1, Linux system.

I've had AmigaForever for about a decade, and I own legacy hardware, but when I want to run Amiga software these days, I ever use my CD32 or an NG system.
I don't use a PC.

[Iggy]

Again thanks for all the advice guys.  At the moment I am experimenting with AmigaOS 4.1 FE on hardware which I already own before potentially moving forwards.  I like the look of AmigaOS 4.1 FE - it certainly feels like a modern take on WB which is what I was after.  Now I just want everything to run under it so I'm not flicking in and out of the OS.  Once I crack that part I will look at hardware, though I have to say the nackered Surface Pro 2 is doing a grand job.  I have some spare PS3 controllers too so am also thinking about hooking those up.  Either way, I will try and post a screen dump of my config tonight so you can see where I'm at.  As it stands I just can't mount any Windows storage devices.

Cool. Look forward to see it as I haven't explored that option.

[Iggy]

@iggy

Yeah, that may be the case for someone who is interested in NG stuff, but I was writing in the context of someone interested in classic, chip set hitting stuff, which is what the OP here said and implied multiple times, and why I kept saying that.

I was answering the actual question, not hypothetical scenarios infused with my own interests.

Sure you were because he has repeatedly said he wanted to explore a modern equivalent of Workbench AND run legacy apps, and you apparently have ignored the fact that he's already using Amiga Forever and OS4.1.
WHICH is a good solution to explore the option of running both OS3.1 and OS4.1, but like all PC based solutions is NOT ideal.
I use PCs everyday, but not to run Amiga software.
And we aren't discussing hypothetical situations, like settling on continuing to use PCs.
We're discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the direction HE wants to explore.

[Iggy]

To be fair, I probably jumped the gun a little.
The OPs focus has been custom chipset hitting software and whdload.
These are the things I've been responding to. I did mostly disregard the few mentions made in regards to Workbench.

Can't say I agree about PCs not being an ideal vehicle for Amiga use though.
My 4ghz i5, dopus mag based AROS box running the best version of the best amiga-oid browser, wookiechat irc client, Audio Evolution and a bunch of other Amiga software, the ability to run 68k Amiga software by double clicking their icons, etc, etc sure seems a pretty nice experience to me (and I say that as someone who also uses both os3.x and 4.x).
Ditto my Amithlon system.

I envy your possession of an Amithlon system, its a pity the drivers for those are so dated.
I do have WinUAE and FS-UAE installed on the i7 laptop I'm typing on right now, and the AM3+ FX8300 based system I have at my desk.
Further, I'm seriously consider AMD's new Ryzen processor, if its performance comes even close to the i7 6900K that AMD has been comparing it to.

SO...I do agree with you on the direction we are headed, AND what generally works well in a typical productivity system.
Amiga's however...still linger a bit behind.
Should UAE emulation ever support full PPC emulation, that will eliminate one of my complaints.
Then there's the hope of running an X64 derivative of MorphOS as a primary OS or in a virtual box.

But that's the future.

So right now, again, I'm buy a last PPC system. :bitch: