a) Are there any B-Vision drivers for OS4, if yes, are they PPC native or still 68k? Can you switch between AGA chipset and B-Vision from the OS, or better still, use both at the same time?
Yes, there are drivers. I think they are 68k still, but because of some bug in the rtg.library that prevents native drivers from woring on the classic (no problem on the A1, though..).
Of course, you can still use AGA.
b) Does OS4 support the Paula chip, or just AHI sound-cards?
Paula is supported on the classic.
c) How's the hard disk speed using the regular IDE adaptor?
Mediocre. The emulated drivers are a bit slow.. Since most people with CSPPCs use SCSI, and there's a native driver, that shouldn't be too much of a problem... The on-board A4000 IDE interface isn't fast even natively...
d) How responsive is the system in general use?
Haven't used it in a while, I have to admit...
e) Has anyone tried using the bundled GCC compiler? How's compilation time, and how's final code size compated to 68k?
Compile times greatly depend on the disk speed. With the FFS or SFS plugin cache enabled, it's quite fast.
Code size of PPC is larger than that of 68k binaries... the file format itself is also larger, but overally, the code size is about 1.5 times...
f) I know that DVD playback is out of the question, but what about regular VCD (not super VCD)?
I think Moovid, AMP and of course MPlayer can both play VCD.
g) What are realistic memory requirements for OS4 on the classic Amiga?
You should have at least 64 MB. It works with far less (say, 16 MB), but isn't really usable. Remember that instead of relying on the ROM, we need to load the complete kickstart image into RAM. Plus, OS4 absolutely needs an MMU table. This means roughly 6 MB are already taken.
For "special environments", the useage can be cut down to roughly 4 MB, but that's the absolute realistic minimum.... And that will not leave any memory for applications...
