*2@6 The Jaundiced I@1 --------------- @5 Well, here we are approaching Christmas and Amiga has started to announce plans for their new software. Workbench 3.9 is coming and with it will be the opportunity of upgrading your hardware@1 ........@5 ppc for the masses. Now, as you will learn @3 @1 .....@5 I'm not the happiest of people at the best of times. I might be considered to be in the same league as Victor Meldrew!! No, I don't mean dead!!! So, its with considerable disappointment I greeted this piece of news. You might ask "isn't Amiga doing well by us by giving us an upgrade path and new software"? Well, my short answer is#8 NO@1!! @5 I wanted Amiga to launch 3.9 with support for common hardware not ppc!! I wanted Amiga to announce that there would be support for x86 etc. ! In short, I didn't want hardware to bolt onto my Amiga, I wanted a new computer with the advantages of being very common and cheap!!. @5 Amiga have announced that Eyetech will be building these new boards and good luck to them. As a taste of what we can expect, owners without a tower need not bother to buy it, you need a tower!! You will probably also need lots of money to throw at it as well!! On the other hand, you could have went out and bought a computer with a graphics 3d card, sound card ,large hard drive and a minimum of 700 MHz for just over £500. However, this option will not allow you to run the Amiga software announced@1 ...... @5 that will come much later ... I have seen estimates of second quarter 2001 quoted. So, instead you can spend the same amount and get a slower computer still needing lots of other equipment costing larger sums of money, and, Whoopee, it will be able to run your current Amiga software!!! Well, s'cuse me, but I think its not only bad for current users but bad generally for Amiga. Amiga has said that they are doing this to support the current users, but I feel this is a disservice! Lets allow the users to be able to buy equipment cheaply for once!! As for the new software, anybody expect it to be the finished article??? Its the first release@1 ....@5 look at the difference between 1.3 and 3.0 just for starters. I think its going to need more boing bags than 3.5 has currently got. Another thing is how is Amiga going to grow the user base ? One things certain, this won't do it!! Just supposing every Amiga user had actually went out and bought 3.5, I don't see all of those buying 3.9!! So, we're back into the vicious cycle of declining numbers again. Quite a few didn't buy 3.5 , and now, even more won't buy 3.9@1 ...... @5 Eyetech should be able to cope with the numbers of boards then @3 @5 I wonder how many people have actually bought ppc boards anyway?? I mean Phase 5 couldn't manage to stay afloat selling boards ......... The numbers are that low , there isn't even an Amiga magazine on most newsagent shelves now! I lost track of the last time I actually saw one on the local W H Smith or my local newsagents. Without decent coverage, no-one will want to buy a system running Amiga software. So, I don't believe this is the way forward!! I want Amiga to be a major mainstream computer platform again and without the advantages of low hardware prices, common availability and major software releases it never will be!! @5 I want Amiga to have the latest games and applications. Notice many major players saying they are writing for Amiga? Neither do I. We need killer applications, killer games to attract new users. Amiga users believe that it has the best freeware and shareware support in the World, but even that's not true nowadays. Try getting software that plays the latest formats, writes VCD's , rips DVD , converts between various movie formats@1..... @5 Hell, most of them can't be viewed on Amiga as it is!! We need these sort of things!! Amiga users have always written code for applications that was smaller, faster, more efficient, but, if we're truthful, most of those people have left Amiga in recent years. We need to attract them back and staying in ppc land won't get them!! So, thats enough whinging for now@1 .....@5 Lets hear you're opinions on the list!! I look forward to your retorts and corrections of ,no doubt, my many misapprehensions!! ]5@3 Ian Urie