Amiga OS4 on old (PPC) Macs

[recidivist]

 What is needed is something similar to the Virtual PC dor the Mac which set up the enviroment for  various PC operating systems.It was possible to purchase VPC "bare" and you could then install any legal copy of Windows,i.e. the retail boxed one from the store that didn't specify what brand of computer.

Now why would installing a retail boxed OS4 be any different?

For the masochists or whatever;just install the VPC on your Mac, then install Windows and tweak it for best performance of Amiga Forever ! It should run almost as slow as the original.

[yorgle]

I'm a big old-school Amiga kind of guy - i love the simplicity and smallness of 1.3, much more than 2.0x or newer...

but if i could run AmigaOS 4.0 on this G3 iBook, I'd buy and install it in less than a quarter of a heartbeat.

[TheMagicM]

if it was that easy to "patch" OS4 to run on a PPC based Mac, dont you think there would have been someone that would have accomplished this by now?

if Hyperion was smart they would have released this for the PPC Mac a long time ago.  Would there be more AmigaOS users had this decision been made?  You tell me how many OS4 users there are now + Classic OS4.. then think of how many PPC Macs there are available.  You do the math.   Its common sense, but in the Amiga world there is no such thing.

[spihunter]

the only guess I can make on why they havent released OS4 for PPC Macs is that its either not legal in some way or they dont think they can make any money off it.

Maybe thats what the whole lawsuit is about? who knows?

At $100 a pop, they would make a killing just off the OS curious folks that could pick up a second hand PPC G3-G4 Mac for next to nothing.

[AMC258]

I believe OS4 on (old) Macs would dramatically increase the size of the Amiga community.  Before you know it, OS5 replaces OSX.  Hmmm...  :idea: What would the Amiga girl look like on the TV commercial, "Hi, I'm an Amiga".  "And I'm a Mac".  "And I'm a Peecee".

[Jeff]

Although something like this would probably be the only way I would ever run OS4, I can't see it ever happening from a legal standpoint.

One could certainly hope for a backroom solution however:-D

[amigadave]

@TheMagicM,

There has been someone, or some group, I believe from the same Hyperion group working on OS4 that DID accomplish getting OS4 running on a MacMini PPC.  If you read through all the messages in this post and one of the other OS4 threads, you may find out more about it.  But IIRC, the group or person who was able to get it running even showed it to Bill McEwen and he reportedly used it as part of Amiga Inc.'s evidence against Hyperion in the court case.

So, if that is true, the work has been done and it would only be a small amount of additional work to modify the patch to allow OS4 to run on more Macs than just the MacMini.

We need to find the individual or group who has the code that will allow OS4 to run on Macs and convince them to anonymously post it somewhere that the rest of the Amiga community can get to it and further modify it to work with other Mac PPC computers.

[Fizza]

motorollin wrote:

Faerytale wrote:
"It's not piracy, if you buy a program it's yours to do with as you please so long as you don't distribute it to others"

You never "own" a software you buy. You only buy a license that gives you the right to use it.

You dont have the right to do whatever you want with it.
You have to agree to the license agreement of the specified software.

The EULA to which you are referring is *not* legally binding. An end user has no legal obligation to run software they buy only on the hardware the vendor wants him to. I have purchased a legal copy of OS4, and I am legally entitled to run it on whatever hardware I choose, and there's nothing AInc or anyone else can do about it.

Also, if somebody releases a patch for OS4 to allow it to run on non-Amiga hardware, then this is not piracy, since piracy refers to copyright theft, not the modification of software for which one owns a license.
--
moto

This is the bottom line people, forget the hypothetical bullcrap. If anyone wants to make overpriced and underpowered accelerator cards, then let them stand up and speak for themselves while something actually gets done.

The code is a third party modification or hack, like MagicWB or Executive - jeez at one time, people were all for hacks to make the OS do neat stuff..

If I buy OS4 then it's no-one's business if I manage to get it running on a Mac but my own. The license is valid because I paid for the software, just like paying for Amiga Forever enabled you to run an emulation of Amiga Hardware, on whatever hardware you could get it to run on, and a licensed version of Workbench on top of that. Do you think anyone cared whether OS3.5 was bought for Amiga Forever or a real Amiga?? I highly doubt it. And if it needed a Kickstart image, then I'd go out and get one of those too, just as I did with Amiga Forever. This needs to happen and it could be the final resolution to this stupid situation. There's software, but no hardware.. give me a break, get it on a Mac already!!!!!

Believe it that I would have an i-Mac & OS4.0 for Christmas if this was to happen - and severely tempted to retire my dual Ghz G4 Quicksilver to Amiga OS when that is eventually replaced, and I have a feeling I won't be the only one.

I also believe that once this takes off, or goes viral, it might speed up some sort of resolution to this legal mess that might not take another damn 13 years - and I'm so looking forward to another 13 years of that, not. Unless of course, people are afraid the soap opera will finish? Are Amiga folk just soap addicts now? I hope not!

If the Minimig could work, and it should, then there's no reason for this not to either.

PS; I do understand the licence doesn't grant the purchaser anything more than running the software, so the purchaser can make no claim upon copyright or 'ownership' of the actual code itself. To make the car analogy again, if I want to chop up a Ford Focus and make it look like a Ferrari on crack, then it's my perogative, although I might have damaged any warranty claim I might have with Ford, but if I own a factory, I can't go out and reproduce Ford Focus' and start flogging them at half price because I bought one legit. Anyone making a legal threat saying you can't run OS4.0 on a Mac if you get it work is having a proper laugh, and I'd be interested to see anyone issuing cease and desist letters to purchasers of it.

[Agafaster]

this is an ode un innit ?!
interesting if anyone can get it to work (might source me a 2nd hand PPC mac if it does !), but I seem to remember AIncs reasoning (back when we still liked 'em) that they couldnt do a version for PowerMacs cos of apple never being likely to release the info required to not do a hack, which is effectively what the Linux crew did to get linux on powermacs. now, Linux is community software, and AInc are (for want of a better word !) a company, which would leave them wide open for being sued should they market the technology to run an alternate commercial OS on a closed platform. also, it wouldnt be in Apples best interest to have a better OS (as at the time, OS4 was better than their offering, natch !) on THEIR platform.

upshot: technically, very doable. legally ? potential bl00dy minefield for everybody but Apple.

[jj]

Im guessing the main problem is that it was probably the A1 version of OS4 that was beeing ported to MacMini and not the classic version.  The classic version would be missing all the drivers for GPU and soundcards etc , and HDD interfaces

[monami]

apple gave up on the macs that we are talking about? they have little respect for honouring a computer service when they have new money making hardware. and regaurd these older computers useless.if they show they do not care about their hardware by not supporting it why are you all nit picking on their rights when they care little for the rights of the user? the apple user is usually out in the cold a couple of years after they buy a $2000 computer... and has to buy the new os every year for $100. they like microsoft i'm sure do anything they can to squeeze any competition out of the way using any legal loophole etc etc (dirty tricks.) and back up their rights with legalities and consider themselves a self govening self appointed law. do you really like these guys?

if linux can be used on a ppc mac why not os 4?

my ppc mac has no software to run on it as apple abandoned support for it long ago. i hope it makes apple look bad that they have been shown up for what they are. because they would be usable computers again and not put in landfills like apple want! where is our right to sue apple for not being a responsable citizen and keeping their computers from polluting the environment. i wish i could sue 'em. where is the law to stop them box shifting and polluting OUR world.
  :madashell:

[thanos]

Several people have mentioned that legal issues could arise in regards to using OS4 on non-Amiga hardware.

I suspect that nothing official will happen in the immediate future as a result.

However...

I feel that after I have purchased something it own it.  I, assuming I knew how, heh, could do whatever I want with my software, or hardware.  I do not think that after I have paid for it anybody else can tell me what to do with it.

What if, I bought a brand new car and turned it into a planter for the garden?  I mean, its my car right?

Ok, thats just silly...

[Agafaster]

... but since no one gives a sh1t about Ainc any more, this is all moot, so we should just do it anyway ! afterall, you can now get a bit of software that will dualboot a bogstandard vanilla (beige ?) PC to OSX...

[monami]

"... but since no one gives a sh1t about Ainc any more, this is all moot, so we should just do it anyway !"

here, here. right who can code? :lol:

[Agafaster]

monami wrote:
"... but since no one gives a sh1t about Ainc any more, this is all moot, so we should just do it anyway !"

here, here. right who can code? :lol:

more importantly - who's got the time who can code ? :-/

[zhulien]

if OS4 was to be made on any non-Amiga PPC-based hardware, I'd rather see it on the PS3... although not very popular (at least here in Australia) the PS3 is unlikely to disappear any time soon...