STUser wrote:
So why not just buy a Linux system with UAE? If the OS, architecture and everything else is different, what's the point?
Did you ask something similar when the Mac moved from 680x0 to PowerPC? Probably not.
Migrating amiga from 680x0 to PowerPC has proved controvertial to many (many prefer x86), but most agree that a new CPU was a must if the platform was to continue in any meaningful way.
Still talking about the architectural issues, the custom chips, once the platforms strengths are now extremely dated compared to off the shelf hardware. Most serious users have gotten gfx cards, sound cards, PCI expansion busses etc. and so even for many existing 680x0 users, the 'architecture' is not as it once was. The migration to A1 won't be that big a deal.
The OS isn't really that different, either. Sure its' compiled for PowerPC, but it is still an evolution of the existing OS. Dont get me wrong, it does have some very new functionality added and the kernel is completely new. Also 680x0 emulation and other features are obviously a must to support older applications.
However, it will run on classic amigas that have the apprropriate hardware (basically a powerpc accelerator - for now CSPPC or BPPC). It just happens to run even better on the A1 hardware which is considerably more up to date.
If you look at Pegasos platform, you can already see that all this works in principal. It is just as different from the classic amiga architecture as the A1 is and has a PPC native OS with similar 680x0 emulation and OS3.x compatibility.
