ARM for the future?

[takemehomegrandma]

For years people have been discussing a potential alternative route to PPC for "Next Generation Amiga", a discussion that has only become more relevant since PPC effectively went dead for all interesting purposes a few years back.

Often has these discussions been focused on x86, but as many people has pointed out, its endianness would probably be a show stopper. Other people feels that x86 is a show stopper in its own merits, because of various historical/"nerd-religious"/emotional reasons.

However, there might be a better alternative, if a new platform jump is to take place; ARM!

I have written a few posts over at MorphZone about this, and I'm not going to cross-post, but point you to it:

http://www.morphzone.org/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7675&sortname=&sortorder=&sortdays=&viewmode=flat&order=0&start=0

(Don't miss the video with Windows and Office running on ARM!

So a lot has been happening on the ARM front recently, and a *solid* momentum and future for the platform is being built up.

So what do you think? Would ARM qualify as a new architecture for *miga?

[WolfToTheMoon]

For years people have been discussing a potential alternative route to PPC for "Next Generation Amiga", a discussion that has only become more relevant since PPC effectively went dead for all interesting purposes a few years back.

Often has these discussions been focused on x86, but as many people has pointed out, its endianness would probably be a show stopper. Other people feels that x86 is a show stopper in its own merits, because of various historical/"nerd-religious"/emotional reasons.

However, there might be a better alternative, if a new platform jump is to take place; ARM!

I have written a few posts over at MorphZone about this, and I'm not going to cross-post, but point you to it:

http://www.morphzone.org/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7675&sortname=&sortorder=&sortdays=&viewmode=flat&order=0&start=0

(Don't miss the video with Windows and Office running on ARM!

So a lot has been happening on the ARM front recently, and a *solid* momentum and future for the platform is being built up.

So what do you think? Would ARM qualify as a new architecture for *miga?

For the current PPC-only AmigaOS derivatives ARM is the most likely choice.
AROS already has a ARM port.
Future Workbench X will be x86 only at first but thanks to it's Linux underpinnings could be made in the ARM version also, should need ever arise.

[SamuraiCrow]

I considered buying a Pandora handheld gaming system at one time.  I wouldn't mind having AROS running on one of those.

[kolla]

So what features will Workbench X have?

[trekiej]

The Beagle Board is good product to try it on.
http://www.beagleboard.org

[commodorejohn]

I'm a 68k diehard as far as the Amiga goes, but I am interested in the growing popularity of ARM-based systems - the PC market has been x86-dominated for so long now, and I'd very much like to see some diversity again. I've been pondering a BeagleBoard for a while now; think I might order one in the near future...

[Iggy]

Personally, I like the PandaBoard. It doesn't cost any more (about $174) and is more powerful.

http://pandaboard.org/

And Nvidia has announced a new processor that they claim will compete in the desktop/severs market. While no details have been announced for this processor (other than Microsoft supporting it under Windows it seems likely that this will be one of the most powerful ARM processors ever created (if not the most powerful).

While new PPC processors continue to be developed, ARM seems to have more momentum and prices for ARM based evaluation boards are usually much lower.

ARM definately looks better suited to run Amiga related OS' than the X86 family.

[trekiej]

The Panda does look really good.
I like the PPC but Arm looks inviting.

[Calen]

I considered buying a Pandora handheld gaming system at one time.  I wouldn't mind having AROS running on one of those.

I  got my Pandora a few days ago,  nice bit of kit.  My main reason for geting one was old school gaming emulation with hardware controls,  the Keyboard is a nice bonus though.

Back to Turrican 2..

[runequester]

For years people have been discussing a potential alternative route to PPC for "Next Generation Amiga", a discussion that has only become more relevant since PPC effectively went dead for all interesting purposes a few years back.
 
Often has these discussions been focused on x86, but as many people has pointed out, its endianness would probably be a show stopper. Other people feels that x86 is a show stopper in its own merits, because of various historical/"nerd-religious"/emotional reasons.
 
However, there might be a better alternative, if a new platform jump is to take place; ARM!
 
I have written a few posts over at MorphZone about this, and I'm not going to cross-post, but point you to it:
 
http://www.morphzone.org/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7675&sortname=&sortorder=&sortdays=&viewmode=flat&order=0&start=0
 
(Don't miss the video with Windows and Office running on ARM!
 
So a lot has been happening on the ARM front recently, and a *solid* momentum and future for the platform is being built up.
 
So what do you think? Would ARM qualify as a new architecture for *miga?

I dont see why not. Linux already runs on it fine, and there's a massive amount of different boards available, low power requirements, low heat, and getting pretty good performance out of them.
 
It's definately the future

[Belial6]

I actually never took PPC seriously for Amiga.  Commodore never produced models with PPC, so from a purist point of view, they were not Amiga, and I'm pretty sure that they didn't start getting produced until after the Amiga market was commercially dead from my point of view.  They always seemed to be more of a retro add-on.  Kind of like the products from Individual Computers.

By the time I had even heard of them, it was pretty clear that the PPC wasn't going anywhere on the desktop.

So, for me, the original Amiga was a 68k processor.  Anything else is an attempt to bring back Amiga on a new platform.  If I was going to try to bring back Amiga on a new platform, there are two obvious choices.  x86 and ARM.  x86 is being attempted by AROS and CUSA.  x86 is an obvious choice because it has so much market momentem.

ARM on the other hand has started to be VERY interesting.  Computers passed the 'good enough' stage a few years ago.  So, we are now in the 'reduce resources' stage.  ARM is doing amazing things in this area.  I wouldn't count Intel out yet, but I don't see ARM going away soon.  With it's mass production, and continued development, it is a legitimate target for future systems.

So, from my perspective, ARM is a more legitimate target than PPC ever was.

[fishy_fiz]

Personally I dont really care too much for any of the ppc amiga systems, but ARM seems a reasonable successor if there's ever a decision made to change architectures.
What I do find interesting is ARM power consumption growing as x86 power consumption declines. AMD bobcat is already as low as 9w including an intergrated hd6xxx (dx11) class gpu.
Between ARM and x86 there's actually a bit of interesting stuff happening in the computer world at the moment.

[Iggy]

Personally I dont really care too much for any of the ppc amiga systems, but ARM seems a reasonable successor if there's ever a decision made to change architectures.
What I do find interesting is ARM power consumption growing as x86 power consumption declines. AMD bobcat is already as low as 9w including an intergrated hd6xxx (dx11) class cpu.
Between ARM and x86 there's actually a bit of interesting stuff happening in the computer world at the moment.

As a PPC user, I'm obviously biased, but I do see the PPC as the natural successor to the 68K. Both share the same endian design (as does the ARM, and NOT the X86). I can understand everyone desire for low cost, modern hardware. But X86 was once the enemies product of choice.
Therefore, if we're going to change ISAs again, ARM has my vote.
It RISC, it will run Amiga code more efficiently then X86, and most importantly its not Intel.

[fishy_fiz]

Sure, I have no problems with PPC, or even the PPC amiga options, and it made a kind of sense to use it as the successor to 68k. When I say I dont really care too much I dont mean it in a negative way, Im just somewhat nonchalant. AROS I have a little interest in, but that's declining as well compared to my heavy involvement of the past. The closest thing to an "NG" amiga system Im still quite into these days is Amithlon. For me it's just about being able to continue my amiga hobby of old, with software I know and enjoy, and while I can understand people wanting to use an evolved version of the amiga the new options lose just as much as they gain for my tastes.

Sorry for being a little off topic, I just wanted to clarify that I wasnt bashing PPC. (Im getting pretty darn tired of the arguing about all the typical stuff these days)

[the_leander]

Both share the same endian design (as does the ARM, and NOT the X86).

As far as I know ARM is bi endian. Same goes for PPC, at least in some models.