What still makes Amiga superior today?

[PR]

We do!

Side-effects, no virus/adware. Lightning fast (OS4). I can pay a bill and check the e-mail and power off at the same time the pc is still booting & loading the virus programs which cost quite a lot too!

Second answer:
Hyperion and the new forthcomming update (DVI,Amigainput?+ "surprises"  etc.) !

Oh yeah and the retro-games...

[foleyjo]

just a quick question.

Is Amiga still the only true multitasking computer?

[AeroMan]

foleyjo wrote:
just a quick question.

Is Amiga still the only true multitasking computer?

No...  But it is the only one that seems to be  :-D

[amigadave]

foleyjo wrote:
just a quick question.

Is Amiga still the only true multitasking computer?

I assume you mean pre-emptive multitasking when you say "true".

It never was the only, or first true multitasking computer, but probably was the first personal computer for the masses that had true multitasking.  I believe that Windows started using pre-emptive multitasking with WindowsNT, or 2000 and don't know when the Mac got it, but I am sure has it now and for a while.

[foleyjo]

amigadave wrote:


I assume you mean pre-emptive multitasking when you say "true".

Not sure if thats what I mean.

What I was told once is that with the Amiga its hardware can work independently from each other allowing multitasking. So two tasks would actually be performed at the same time. Even disk access

With other computers the tasks seem to be performed at the same time when actually they are just taking turns but the processor is so fast it looks like they are being performed at the same time.

Was this a lie?
it could be I believe anything I don't understand :lol:

[stefcep2]

The hardware had DMA and co-processors, meaning that the sound chip,and the graphics chip could act independently of the CPU.  I am sure this has a lot to do with how smooth Amiga multitasking is and why it was so hard for Windows to do it in "less than 4 meg" (W.Gates)

[actung_bab]

l like the fact u just switch the amiga of no shutdown a very small thing but really cool.
l like the fact all files are seen and u can work out what they do.
i have tryed mac dont like them bland and sterile and not having a second mouse button make u feel like one hand is tied behind you back aghhhhh .

windows just does the job just like a boring car or motorbike
but where the fun.
which leaves me sad because l dont see a future computer that l think wow thats cool l like this .

pity though :-)

[Speelgoedmannetje]

amigadave wrote:

foleyjo wrote:
just a quick question.

Is Amiga still the only true multitasking computer?

I assume you mean pre-emptive multitasking when you say "true".

It never was the only, or first true multitasking computer, but probably was the first personal computer for the masses that had true multitasking.  I believe that Windows started using pre-emptive multitasking with WindowsNT, or 2000 and don't know when the Mac got it, but I am sure has it now and for a while.

AFAIK Windows got it with Windows 95 and NT 4.0, and the Mac got it with MacOSX (while the AppleIIGS also had preemptive multitasking back in 1986)
And the Amiga was the first homecomputer with preemptive multitasking. I think the "true" stands indeed for preemptive multitasking. Others also advertised with multitasking while this was merely cooperative multitasking, which isn't really multitasking. Preemptive multitasking let  multiple programs run, while cooperative runs one program and 'suspends' other programs (though interrupts are shared, so a real time clock can keep on ticking)

[Hammer]

Yeah, but Windows doesn't know the hardware is installed until the driver is available. Actually, Windows knows "something" is there.

Not just "something" is there i.e. Windows (2K/XP in this case) knows the following
1. vendor id.
2. device id.
3. subsys id.

In http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/aralves/WindowsLiveWriter/Finddriversforanunknowndevice_E3DB/image_2.png
Windows XP already know this device type i.e. multimedia audio controller.

In http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s845wd1-e/sb/cs-007297.htm
Windows XP already know this device type i.e. ethernet controller.

 It just doesn't know what it is until it has a driver. Autoconfig lets the system be fully aware of the hardware without requiring additional software to enable it.

What happens if I wipe out P96 drivers? Can you still use the graphics device?

[Hammer]

Have a look at Vista: what does it need to install (recommend) 12G of hard drive space. I have most of the text and pictures of the Encylclopeadia Brittanica and it fits on one 650 Mb CD. How can it take possibly take more information than whats in an encyclopedia to make a hard drive arrange its data in order, suck information of it or a DVD, put the info into memory so that the CPU can do something to it, show some windows and move a mouse pointer and display the result on a screen or print it out?

Windows provides more than just showing some windows and move a mouse pointer and display the result on a screen.

Windows Print Spooler supports multi-user objects and network printing.

[Hammer]

stefcep2 wrote:
The hardware had DMA

X86 PC also has DMA i.e. recall why AmigaOne’s was labelled "incompetent" compared to modern PC Northbridges.

Should I restart;
1. NVIDIA nForce 2 chipset(1) vs any Amiga chipset debate
2. Intel 965 Express chipset(2) vs any Amiga chipset debate
 
(1) Independent (from CPU) pre-fech cache engine in Northbridge.
(2) Incorporates Intel's Fast Memory Access engine (out-of-order processing).
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/q965_q963/demo/demo.html

 and co-processors,

But a modern PC has another CPU core. My Radeon HD 3870 runs Fold@Home GPU2 client just fine.

meaning that the sound chip,and the graphics chip could act independently of the CPU.  I am sure this has a lot to do with how smooth Amiga multitasking is and why it was so hard for Windows to do it in "less than 4 meg" (W.Gates)

Install AROS X86 build on X86 PC.

[tokyoracer]

More to the question, what doesn't?

[Speelgoedmannetje]

Hammer wrote:
Windows provides more than just showing some windows and move a mouse pointer and display the result on a screen.

Windows Print Spooler supports multi-user objects and network printing.

Programs shouldn't use that much. I mean, like Clive Sinclair said, you're able to control an entire nuclear facility with a ZX Spectrum (48 kilobytes of mem).
Factory computers (PLC's) have normally just a couple of megabytes on which it's programs are stored and run on.
The problem with PC's nowadays is the bad usage of object oriented programming. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for object oriented programming, but one has to be very careful with including libraries in their code. It's very easy to make bloatware (and considering programmers often have to program in a very short term, they don't have the luxury but doing the 'easy' way).

[spirantho]

Tiny point about multitasking:

Windows got multitasking of a kind with '95 but it wasn't pre-emptive. Before that it was just task swapping. NT was pre-emptive I think.
MacOS got it with MacOS X... I don't think even MacOS 9 had pre-emptive multi-tasking.
Workbench 1.0 was multitasking in 1984.
However, the Sinclair QL was multitasking at that time too (1985ish)...
... and before even that the 6809-based micros such as the Dragon 64 and CoCo IIIs (I think) were running OS-9 which had pre-emptive multi-tasking.

In other words, the Amiga was the first mainstream computer to have multitasking, but not the first home computer. Windows, of course, was waaay behind, followed only by Macintoshes.

Here endeth the lesson.

[persia]

Cars don't need automatic transmission, air conditioning or heat, power steering, disk brakes, etc.

[Roj]

What happens if I wipe out P96 drivers? Can you still use the graphics device?

Well, the FF/SD would be able to function without drivers. It wouldn't be completely dead in the water without drivers if that counts. But, admittedly, that's due to the video slot, rather than having anything to do with Autoconfig.

I'd think a better example would be a SCSI controller, like the A4091. Full SCSI access with no drivers. Haven't tried SCSI on a PC yet, but the IDE cards I've connected require some form of driver to be installed. Sometimes Windows could find the drivers on its own, sometimes it needed a little help. But it did need them before the cards would function.