AROS Vision 2.4 uploaded

[OlafS3]

I have just uploaded 2.4

Improvements:
Reworked/Optimized Icons (screenshot)
Different modes for different directories (name or icon-mode) to improve handling
Freeware Raytracers added
New filetypes added (YAFA and many different module types)
existing Filetypes improved
special version of AppStore added (indieGO Marketplace text client)
big number of small improvements, f.e. a number of GUI Toolkits added)

This version will also be base for next release of AMINUX and will be integrated in Phoenixkonsoles new AppStore for easy distribution and installation

In next months I will concentrate on making online-documentations (for both user and developer) and plan to create references/documentations/tutorials for all the integrated components and software

Planned for next future version:
improve integrated developer environments
adaptions to real hardware (like changing icon set)
make use of AREXX ports of the different applications
adding own small components

[OlafS3]

up again... (down since friday because of upload problems)

I am also changing my website and will concentrate on AROS Vision there.

http://www.aros-platform.de/

Feedback appreciated. I want to add a "beginner" section with basic explanations for people who have no amiga-experience or rejoin after being away for a long time (as a kind of refresh of memory  )

[OlafS3]

Its great and much respect for maintaining advanced AROS distro!
However, I test AEROS r3 and its even more fun having Linux and AROS at once. AEROS only needs better look and some more AROS apps to be way better then some fake CommodoreOSs ... I believe author of AEROS has expressed interest, can you join the great adventure of AEROS x64, AEROS ARM (including Pi) and AEROS PPC soon?

Yes I do already :-)

[OlafS3]

Oh and does iGame work?

I will test. WHDLoad perfectly works on it. I use the registered version myself. Preinstalled are the rom replacements in it what works for many games but it is easy to use original roms (amigaforever) and then (almost) all games work.

To name two examples Putty Squad works out of the box, Wingcommander needs original roms (if I remember right)

[OlafS3]

Isnt AROS Vision 68k version? Anyway willing to switch if it now supports mediator/pci :-)

I cannot test it myself on real classic hardware, it would be nice if the 68k community would help me to optimize it and I would also like to offer step-by-step manuals how to use it on 68k hardware (if I get help there).

[OlafS3]

I'm trying to get the 68k version of AROS to boot from Ezrec's Gitorious Git repo.  Soon I'll be able to optimize things for you.  (And I also intend to do for Allegro 68k what NovaCoder did with SDL 68k.)

Thanx a lot :-)

there are a number of areas where I could need help on real hardware

For example implement unsupported features (or try to motivate Toni and Jason to add it) like PCI-support and MESA/Gallium and adaption of parts of the OS to classic hardware like using the blitter for certain operations and identify bottlenecks of the system. There are some tests in Aros Vision, perhaps they could be used to compare the platforms. And there is support for serial port missing what is needed for MIDI and printing is not correctly supported (I print in file and then use Windows to solve that).

There is the AROS version of Poseidon, perhaps you could compile and test it.

[OlafS3]

@samuraicrow
lets do first things firtst befrore those bold tasks you are talking about.

does the aros68k nightly curently boots at all under uae? didnt check for a while and last time it did not as it seems. i had also brief contact with toni few weeks ago because of someone with blizzard 060/ppc that did not boot aros but since then toni didnt wrote me back. so if your blizzard dosnt boot, catch the serial debug and bother him.

what concerns optimizations, there is a few issues with core system functions. f.i. memory allocation within exec if i recall and blitting take multiple times in comparison with their genuine equivalents on 68k. there is a tool to compare execution time of individual functionsfor 68k, i need to recall the name. you need the fn files from sdk to have the functions properly identified.the problem is that even having traced down the culprit, improvement may not be an easy task.

to boot it under UAE you must simply delete one file. Thread about this:
http://aros-exec.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8646&forum=4&post_id=86969#forumpost86969

[OlafS3]

I assume you still need RTG to run this?

Aros 68k runs also on AGA or even ECS and 68000 (even if unusable then). AROS Vision is not (yet) optimized for AGA like Icon set and many others. I have also added small own components that are developed with Hollywood and Hollywood not supports AGA. Other included software does not correctly run on AGA (included are RTG versions). The icon set is Kens icons which are not shown correctly on AGA either. MagicWB icon support is already there but I did not change the icons because I have only found too few icons that I could use. But I would like to work together with the 68k community to develop a version that is suited for both classic hardware, new hardware like FPGAs and emulation and could become a bridge between 68k and NG.

The reason why I kept truecolor was because some software like the "cow" demo or netsurf need at least 16bit.

Regarding optimizations... in Aros Vision are a number of tests who gave partly very different results when run on Aros Vision or on AmigaOS 3.1.. Of course it could depend on different components so it certainly needs some time to track it down.