Which OS Would Be The Best Amiga Way Forward...

[persia]

Would there be a possibility of a virtual machine like Virtualbox running in AROS?  Might solve some of the issues of software.  A Crossover type system might be nice but it would be easier to just port open office than get something like that running.....

[Lando]

MorphOS is the best Amiga OS ever made.  The fastest, most modern, most compatible and best implemented.  It would be nice to see it running on architectures other than PPC, but even so it leaves the other alternatives in it's dust.

[spihunter]

Would there be a possibility of a virtual machine like Virtualbox running in AROS?  Might solve some of the issues of software.  A Crossover type system might be nice but it would be easier to just port open office than get something like that running.....

+1 on that. AROS really needs something like Virtualbox. That one app would open the door for everything that didn't run native.

[spihunter]

MorphOS is the best Amiga OS ever made.  The fastest, most modern, most compatible and best implemented.  It would be nice to see it running on architectures other than PPC, but even so it leaves the other alternatives in it's dust.

I agree 100% about MorphOS now that I have used all three modern Amiga's. I still voted for AROS though because PPC is a dead end. It is that great that the PPC Mac ports have made it available for cheap for all that want to use it.

[SamuraiCrow]

+1 on that. AROS really needs something like Virtualbox. That one app would open the door for everything that didn't run native.

There's an effort that PhoenixKonsole is working on called Broadway Plus X.  It is an effort to make hosted AROS run with Linux while allowing the X server to remain active for running LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org and any other Linux app that AROS doesn't have an equivalent to.  It also should support the non-free drivers that Linux supports.  BTW, AROS runs inside VirtualBox but it's really not worth it without the Guest Additions to allow folder sharing and the like.

BTW, I voted for AROS also.  It's the least common denominator of all of them so a hosted AROS could be ported to OS 4 and MorphOS for source compatibility.

[Daedalus]

the only problem I have with OS4.x is that to me personally it seems to be a bit bloated for lack of a better term and wonder if it could ever be re-written to run say on just an 060 based Amiga or even PPC based Amiga without the need for a GFX/RTG card of some kind which would make it more available to a wider user base...

OS4 will run on a PPC classic without a graphics card - but it won't be fun. And whatever about PPC being dead-end, the 68060 is so much more dead-end it's not even funny!

You can't have it both ways - if you don't want the new features (or bloat if you prefer) of OS4 then stick with OS3. Nothing wrong with that. Is there really a need for OS4 on an 060/AGA machine? I just don't see the point, even if it was feasible...

[trekiej]

With Aros68k, Aros Kickstart, and new 68k systems we will probably worry much less than we do now. Maybe we will be more at-ease when that happens. The new FPGA systems, I believe, will eventually bring PPC back in some way. If Freescale jumps onboard there may even be a 68k revival. If they do not,oh well.

[SamuraiCrow]

The new FPGA systems, I believe, will eventually bring PPC back in some way.

I think you are mistaken there.  I think the PPC is morally wounded by the fact that its instruction set requires more memory to represent the same code.  This makes all of the caches less efficient and memory a more overvalued commodity.

If there is a revival of the 68k processor it may put some of the existing CISC designs on the defensive in ways that the PPC never could.  The N68050, for example, will be able to represent certain opcodes as combinations of two opcodes.  (This will allow 3 operand instructions to be encoded in a backward-compatible way to the traditional 68k machines.)

ARM may stand a chance though.  There's enough time and talent going into the ARM chips now that it will definitely beat PPC on every front leaving only CISC/RISC hybrids such as the 64-bit Intel x86's and AMD64 to fight over the rest.  If the 68k doesn't come back by the time that Windows 8 comes out for the ARM processors, it probably never will.

[trekiej]

Are there tools for converting OS4.x to Arm? Will it allow a port to be easy.
Easy is a relative term.
PPC, just tell an Amigan it can't be done. Chuckle.
I guess FPGA would allow Amiga OS4.x classic to live a little longer.

[Magitius]

Aros 68k rocks! :banana:

[SamuraiCrow]

Are there tools for converting OS4.x to Arm? Will it allow a port to be easy.
Easy is a relative term.
PPC, just tell an Amigan it can't be done. Chuckle.
I guess FPGA would allow Amiga OS4.x classic to live a little longer.

Most of the apps for OS 4 are written in C rather than Assembly making them MUCH easier to port to ARM AROS.  That's right, AROS already has an ARM version for that Efika netbook.

What we need most is not a new OS but a new compiler backend.  GCC is kludgey and LLVM is catching up with the quality of code generated by it.  This would allow a target-neutral sandbox based on AROS for all versions of AROS including hosted versions of AROS for PPC systems.

[Karlos]

I had such a rough week I didn't understand the question so defaulted to "Pancakes".

[trekiej]

I am wondering what the Tool Chain is going to look like when Natami and Replay get released. It appears to me that getting a programing package is not as strait foreward as it could be. Some will want to use their new machines to write programs.
Hopefully, I am wrong and there is some ready made software.
I would have to agree with an early post on making our own platform.
To me what is left is Amiga Preservation. This could be Source Code/ Binaries/ Documentation, Video, and Audio.
Sorry, this is off topic. Sorry Fanko.

[Mazze]

AROS - because it's the longest text adventure I ever played :juggler:

[HenryCase]

Would there be a possibility of a virtual machine like Virtualbox running in AROS?  Might solve some of the issues of software.  A Crossover type system might be nice but it would be easier to just port open office than get something like that running.....

In a way this already exists. You can run both DOSBox and Bochs in AROS. This allows you to use MS-DOS, Windows and Linux software within AROS. Does that suffice?

http://www.dosbox.com/
http://bochs.sourceforge.net/

[zylesea]

Of course MorphOS. It is the most polished and versatile OS. AROS holds quite some potential but isn't as polished as MorphOS.

@ Franko
You change your opinion about MorphOS quite often. I'd suggest to read http://via.i-networx.de/wim.htm again or - even better - check out yourself the current version on a powerful G4. Or have a pint, or two - Cheers!