OS4 questions - 68K compatible?

[lurkist]

After reading the specs for OS4, I was still left in some doubt as to what it will run on.  Is it designed specifically for the A1?  The website jabbers on about 68K emulation and about various mini programs which I will never use, but never mentions if it will be classic Amiga compatible.  Will 3.9 be the last classic Amiga OS?
Cheers.

[Methuselas]

OS4.0 will be using multi-threading emulation for 68k. It's all done, on the fly, so as not to have the 'sandbox' limitation. Provided you are running software that doesn't bang the old chipset or cause GURU code, it should be fine. I'm sure that limitation is alleviated on classic boards, but you also have a slower CPU speed, etc. Nobody knows what programs will run, 'cos OS4 isn't finished yet.  :-D

[Kronos]

@Methusales

What are the "sandbox limitations" and what have they to do
with they way the 68k is emulated ?
/me thinks you are confusing a few facts here

I also think you haven't answer the original question which
was if it will run on classic Amigas, and the answer to that
would be, yes it will run aslong as the Amiga has a CyperstormPPC
or BlizzardPPC. (no I have not forgotten the fishy thing).

[zacman]

>What are the "sandbox limitations"

That you can actually run 68k AmigaOS programs  :-P

[Kronos]

How mean ......  ;-)

[lurkist]

Ah, PPC.  PPC opens up a whole different bag of sugar-coated bonbons.  But is it classic?  I personally feel that the maximum spec for a classic amiga is 060 75, as soon as you add PPC, it becomes next-gen.  Not necessarily a bad thing, I would love to power-up my miggy, but would I be "selling out"?  My current set-up is worth over £2500 and I think I could spend that again, but is it really worth it?  If OS4 runs on my non-PPC machine at least I have the option.  If not, well 3.9's not so bad...

In 2000 it was clear that OS 3.9 would be the last AmigaOS to run on 68k processors.

Now in 2003, it does no longer make sense for an OS to run on such an old processor. The 68k has been holding the AmigaOS back, but now, OS4 should be something quite special as it is running on much more powerful PowerPC.  :-D

"I cant wait" seems a bit inappropriate to say tho  :-P

Sorry just had to get my 100th post!

[jeffimix]

OS4 will have support for programs that don't specifically take advantage of old hardware.... which are mostly games. Also I've read it'll run on the AmigaOne, BlizzardPPC and CyberstormPPC.

[jumpship]

@ lurkist

I assume you are asking will OS4 run on the classic machines?

The short answer is no.


The slightly more in-depth answer is:

OS4 is completley PPC based, so it will noe run on any of the 68k series of processors. That said, I belive that Hyperion are developing OS4 on A3(4)000's with CyberStorm PPC accelerators in, thus that will be the first version of OS4 to be released. Next will be the AmigaONE version and then the A1200 BlizzardPPC.

So, OS4 will run on 'Classic' machines, but only those with PPC processors

Hope that helps :-)

[Methuselas]

What are the "sandbox limitations" and what have they to do
with they way the 68k is emulated ?
/me thinks you are confusing a few facts here

Well, every 68k emulation is done on the fly, which means they are independent of each other, unlike UAE. If you read the features list of OS4.0, it states that clearly. Since each trigger of the emulation is independent, there is no need to run the applications within a 'sandbox', since it's hardcoded into the os as a function.

I also stated that most apps *SHOULD* run, provided that they don't bang the hardware or cause GURU code. I went along and said that we didn't know what would run, since nothing has really been tested. With that being said, most of your applications should run, similar to Amithlon I'm sure, but most games will not, since they are notorious for hardware banging.

The only thing that I didn't answer was if OS3.9 was the last of the 'classic' line.  Will it run on 68k? No and they've already stated that, hence the 68k emulation. Apart from that, I don't see anything wrong at all with my 'facts', as you so put it. :-D

I naturally assumed that *EVERYONE* knew that OS4.0 was PPC only. I don't know how many times we've heard SOMEONE say that.

[Kronos]

@Methusales

It seems you really got something wrong here ....

I assume that by "on the fly" you mean the JIT-compiler,
wich says nothing if it is either a boxed system or not.

It also doesn't matter if you run one 68k-emu, or one per task.

The only difference between  "boxed" or "not boxed" is wether
the old SW is kept seperated from the new one, or if it all runs
on one kernel.

Very importont to what kind of memory-protection and so could be
implemented into the OS.

Oh and yes it seems that the orginal poster really didn't know
if OS4 was 68k or PPC.