Public Release of MorphOS 2.6 & Introduction of PowerMac Support

[takemehomegrandma]

Relayed from MorphZone.org:

"The MorphOS development team is proud to announce the public release of MorphOS 2.6 introducing support of Power Mac G4 systems. In addition to the extended hardware support, existing users will benefit from various bug fixes and a few new features. For an overview of the included changes, please read our release notes.

We strongly urge owners of Power Mac computers to carefully read our installation and troubleshoot guides before they attempt to install MorphOS for the first time. Existing users can upgrade via the familiar procedure but are encouraged to read the guides as well. MorphOS 2.6 is available for download in our files section."

[takemehomegrandma]

Bloody hell, almost £100 for a licence key? :shocked:

Yes indeed it's by far the cheapest one of the two commercial NG options available!

(Only AROS is cheaper, but that's not even close to be comparable to MorphOS, so...)

[takemehomegrandma]

In comparison to say AOS or Mac OS Leopard the price is pretty much comparable - or at least it was back in 2005 when I purchased Leopard although I suspect the price have changed since.  £100 may seem a bit expensive for a pair of OSes that many would deem as under-developed, but at the end of the day someone has to pay for and fund future development.  Butterflies and Boing balls don't grow on trees ya know.

Snow Leopard is £20.

AFAIK, the price/cost for Mac OS is included into the HW price. AFAIK, Mac OS is included in every Mac sold. I'd say that the £20 (assuming this is correct) you mention is more like a nominal upgrade fee for people who already paid once for a HW+OS combo. Right?

But comparisons between MorphOS and Mac OS is kind of irrelevant anyway...

[takemehomegrandma]

Sure.  Compare away.  The only system of the 3 that you can do any real work with is OSX.  Peopled don't buy MOS for nostalgia.

I kind of agree with that. MorphOS is about Amiga evolution. I don't claim it to be comparable to Mac OS, but in an *Amiga* context (which is what matters here), it's the furthest evolved option available in 2010. This is why people are interested in MorphOS.

Even if Amiga backwards compatibility has been central in MorphOS development since day one (MorphOS is the role model here), it's not like the point with MorphOS is to play old A500 games and apps (even if some *may* work). People wanting that would be better off with Amiga Forever, which is purely about nostalgia (which is even suggested by its name).

[takemehomegrandma]

Err, i think you're greatly mistaken here:

Are you sure you don't confuse OS4 with MorphOS too much here?

Well, isn't that obvious?

This is a problem with your browser still using the "OWB" name, it makes people think that "Oh, but I've seen that on OS4, *not* so good..."

Have you thought about giving it a name of its own (like I suggested on MorphZone some time ago)? Would eliminate the confusion!

[takemehomegrandma]

MorphOS cannot do any serious work, it is a retro user hobby. If you want to do serious work you get a Windows based PC, a Linux based PC or a Mac with OSX.

Hmm, although MorphOS lacks some major features of today's desktop OS's, it sure *can* do work (at least most the Internet and entertainment stuff that 90% of the people spends 90% of their free time doing in front of their computers). Sure, MorphOS is a hobby, an enthusiast thing. And while it has its roots in Amiga (which by all means could be considered a retro thing in 2010), it's not for retro reasons the developers has spent all this time making it as useful and modern as it actually is today. MorphOS is "Amiga NG". And while this (as you say) by all means isn't comparable to Windows or Mac OS, it's still ahelluvalot more than Amiga Forever.

[takemehomegrandma]

MOS has to have an office suite for work, a decent browser for the web, and a decent media player for recreation to be successful.

As said before, MorphOS has everything you mentioned except perhaps the Office Suite (if you would need to use an office pack on MorphOS you would have to use Google Apps or Microsoft Office Web Apps (haven't tried that on MorphOS yet myself)).

Frankly, I don't see how an office suite would bring hordes of new users to MorphOS anyway. Fundamentals in *miga design prevents any *miga OS from becoming a serious competitor on the desktop market. An office suite wouldn't change that.

It's here for the enthusiasts, which is fine by me!