Which OS Would Be The Best Amiga Way Forward...

[Rodomoc]

I vote Aros mainly because it is open sourced. It has a ways to go obviously but in reviewing the last distribution of Icaros, it is progressing well. I hear it is also near to becoming a useful 68K entity. This would be good for upcoming FPGA hardware projects but legacy stuff too. And finally, it is portable to other hardware.

I do happen to like MorphOS and have reviewed on an Efika hardware setup. It seems tightly constructed. And ran quite well on a miserable thing like Efika. As much as Aros makes sense, MorphOS remains intriguing. Nice OS with good developers behind it. Maybe just not as many 3rd party developers like the other ppc operating system.

[Rodomoc]

Comment made on a controlled OS development strategy.... I like this very much as I am design engineer in much different industry. I have no idea to what degree this is employed by the various OS camps. I do know that MorphOS ran quite well and had a solid, put together feel about it. In reading their various reading materials, I think much of the under-the-hood stuff in MorphOS is pretty decent. I have always been a Cybergraphx fan from my 68K RTG perspective. The other video system aspects are also quite efficient and exhibit good speed on quite old Radeon video hardware, and the look/feel of Ambient is quite good. I like how easy Morph installed onto the Efika. It was a few mouse clicks, that's it. So the building blocks look to be pretty good in MorphOS. If this was a result of some controlled developer strategy, then good job I say. I am still hunting for some g4 powermac hardware to jump into this game better. They are quite cheap I see. MorphOS would really get my attention with g4 powerbook support. Maybe some day.

Aros/Icaros version has a nice appearance to it. I do not think Wanderer is quite as nice as Ambient but it is basic and works. I think the accelerated video drivers are a good thing. Even in VESA mode running from live DVD, I was able to screen drag smoothly with all screen contents staying rock solid. Aros is coming along and I will support it. The fact I could download the dvd image, burn it, and then immediately boot cleanly on my Dell Precision M65 laptop all in less than 1/2 hour was excellent.

I took a quick look at Aros 68K this afternoon. I had it 1/2 way functioning in a winuae configuration. I see it is receiving a lot of attention lately. Which is good because my hopes are that it runs well on anything 68k (amiga, uae, fpga stuff). Call me lazy but I am getting tired of tweaking and patching up my original 3.x based OS. Aros 68K offers the opportunity to have 1000 fixes rolled into a polished OS. Count me in.

[Rodomoc]

Bloodline...How is your Aros68K-A1200 experience? Looks like it is OK. In my own Aros68K-UAE poking around, it seems to me that this is the way to go as opposed to a massively patched 3.x original. Would you tend to agree? Question...Aros kickstart' files are softloaded at boot somehow?
 
I am debating on installing this in my A3000. I am assuming that all of the expansion hardware I have wouldn't be an issue and that I would still be able to run RTG video via cybergraphx4. The problem I have in the A3000 is memory. only a 2/16MB config. Maybe it is time to jump onboard the 256MB ZorRam thing. Which would mean I have issues with # of cards installed. I think dumping the X-Surf/Subway USB combo in favor of Deneb/USB/USB Network would do the trick. I need to learn more about this USB network thingy I see people using...
 
So Aros68K very interesting and certainly could solve once and for all the 68K OS availability and politics and do so with improved functionality.
 
Cheers.

[Rodomoc]

Bloodline, Thanks for the feedback. I think that I will attempt running Aros 68K from the ADF method you mention on my A3000 in native ECS video to see what happens. The machine does have 040 in it so maybe this will help it run Aros 68K better. I won't worry about any of the expansion hardware I have yet and if it freaks Aros 68K out somehow, I'll unplug the lot of it.

[Rodomoc]

Isn't it odd that these polling results show AROS in the lead, but when you ask people what they're currently using AROS usually places last? Does this reflect a general faith in what AROS could become?

Iggy, Speaking for my own Aros vote, this is the case 'what it could become'. As far as what I actually use, it is 68K (divided between a3000 + winuae). Practically speaking, MorphOS is my immediate preferred direction.

[Rodomoc]

Hi Smerf... Very interesting to read a report from someone who has checked out all 3... have to say your conclusion at the end seems to be pretty reasonable for now with regard to OS3.5 & 3.9, although I still think AROS will solve a lot of problems in the future (if it ever gets completed and stable) for things like the NatAmi... .....

I have checked 2 of the 3.

Icaros very recently. I confirm simplicity in getting things downloaded, burned to dvd, and immediately booting up on my Dell Precision M65 laptop. I have not installed onto a hard drive yet so my view is limited to live cd operations. But.. it was free and it was simple to get running. I think it is coming along. And the fact that it will exist on multiple hardware platforms is good. Problem with multiple platform ultimately becomes hardware support. So to a degree, Aros is a bit like Amithlon in finding the perfect hardware. I see this getting better in the future though.

MorphOS 2.0 on an Efika. Again, totally simple to install and get running. For this installation, I did it via their network method, a first for me. If I recall correctly, this is done by starting a boot image from a USB thumb drive. I plugged in a network cable, and got the full OS via network in completely automated fashion. Everything went without a hitch and I was soon greeted with a very polished OS. The only glitch to report was no sound. This was not an OS problem though, it turned out my Efika was the issue. I still am interested in Morph and am merely shopping the ideal Mac hardware for it. As for the tragic little Efika, I plan on using it to run a small Linux and hopefully link up to the Morph system via a VNC connection. Just to fill in software missing pieces for now.

I was a fan of Amithlon, still am I suppose. I was almost always an RTG video person so not having chipset compatibility not a deal breaker for me. I have located my Amithlon CD and am really wanting to put it on a new system as my former is long dead. In reading about kernel upgrades, etc... I see Amithlon still has a following since the last time I was in the game. I have a nice Xeon dual core cpu that runs natively at 3ghz. Perfect I'd say. I believe I have a compatible motherboard according to kernel4 author Mirlanca. I need to get this thing built. I used to be enamored with the preconfigured OS packages. But am no longer. I will hand build/upgrade the 3.9OS manually. As much as I like the new stuff, it is 68K that gets most of my time still.

I do play with UAE / 68K but am becoming disenchanted with it all. This includes setting everything up myself (better) or running AF2011 (worse). I run the A3000 but sparingly because it is getting so old anymore. I too look forward to Natami hardware. So many things become solved in this scenerio and it is new. How could I not want to trade my creaky a3000 in for a nice new natami?

[Rodomoc]

@ Rodomoc

Amithlon has always sounded very interesting. Could you let us know how the newest revision functions?

Will do Iggy. I'm quite interested in getting this running again and having it take over for the tasks I perform on the A3000. Which are mainly editing and storage of family photos, and general screwing around. Amiga still excellent alternative for dealing with digital pictures in my opinion. We have so many, it is easier to just dedicate a computer to this task. Why not an Amiga?