My name is Filip Dab-Mirowski. I am the CEO in Matay, a polish company found in summer 2000. Matay started from selling Amiga software in Poland for decent prices. Thanks to this, high quality of our services and the support we gave to the community we gained the trust of polish Amiga users in a very short time. 
From the beginning (June-July 2000) we were working hard to make our own PCI bridge. This project transformed from an amateur design called AmiPCI (which development started in 1999), to a proffesionaly designed and made circuit board, which was later called "Prometheus".
Now, except that we sell software, design and produce computer cards, we are also writing  software for AmigaDE (focusing on the PDA market).

Are you using an AMIGA at home? Since when?

My first Amiga was A500+ bought in early 1992. Then I had an A600 with 2 MB memory and 120 MB HD and in 1995 I`ve got a A1200 which was quickly upgraded with Blizzard IV 030/50, 8MB RAM and 500 MB HD.
Now I own an A4000T with Cyberstorm 604e 060/50 233mhz and a Prometheus with a Voodoo3 and a 10Mbit network card in it.

What do you like about AMIGA?

The main thing I love about Amiga is its operating system. Its speed, flexibility, ease of use and configure, the stability  are those things, which I was unable to find in other operating systems. 

Is the AMIGA a popular Computer in Poland? 

It was very popular. In 1999, polish Amiga community was still around 25.000-30.000 active Amiga users. Two years later, there are no more than around 6000 active users. Nevertheless, Amigas are still used in almost every private cable tv station and even in some of the big commercial tv stations.
 
Around three weeks ago MATAY announced a official cooperation with AMIGA INC. How did this happen?

Well... it just did ;-)

Seriously, many Amiga Inc. developers and other  companies who work for them, use Prometheus as a basic hardware layer to develop AmigaOS4.0 and drivers for it. I think that our board speeks for itself.

What can the AMIGA users expect from this cooperation? What does it mean for MATAY?

They can be pretty sure that the AmigaOS4.0 is on schedule and will appear in time. It will also mean that AmigaOS4.0 will have all the drivers of the recent PCI cards. For Matay and Prometheus users it means that AmigaOS4.0 will run on this
board just fine (of course, if you will have a PPC card), further more, it means that  there will be new drivers for Prometheus, from recent gfx cards to USB devices.

Which drivers (for which PCI-Cards) are currently working  with the Prometheus-Board?  

Currently, we have:

 1) 2D drivers for Voodoo3 2000/3000
 2) 3D driver for Voodoo3 2000/3000
 3) NE2000 compatible ethernet card driver

 Which drivers are planned for the near future? 

In a about week we are going to upload the 2D Voodoo4 4500 driver. In a bit longer time, we plan to upload drivers for the tv  tuner, soundboard and a USB<->PCI card. All the newest stuff can be downloaded from our www page: http://matay.pl

When will the Warp3D-drivers be ready to use with "Prometheus"?

You can use Warp3D drivers on Prometheus since the release of the board in May. The current version is not the final one, but it already gives you an incredible speed boost and almost all of the OpenGL features missing on Permedia2.
If you didn`t play Heretic 2 or Shogo on V3, you really don`t know what you`re missing. That`s the way those games should REALLY look like!

Are there plans for "own" PCI-Cards from MATAY, maybe a "Zico"-card with USB/Firewire?

Yes, we are working on this with some of the developers who already bought Prometheus..

Shortly you announced, that Matay won´t produce PPC-Cards for "Prometheus" by itself. Have you allready talked with CPU-Card manufactors? Are there any results you can tell us?

We are already talking with some well known manufacturers but we won`t tell you their names until we won`t finish these negotiations ;-)
There`s still some time for the AmigaOS4.0 release, so don`t worry, we will make it avaliable till then.

Some (many?) AMIGA users allready have a PPC-Card (Phase5/DCE,Blizzard) and use Prometheus, too. Do you think it will be possible to run OS 4.0 with this "older" cards (and Prometheus)?

From the hardware point of view Prometheus will work just fine with older PPC cards. Will it be possible to make use of them under AmigaOS 4.0? I don`t know, that`s the Amiga Inc. part.

Which are the main-differences/advantages of Prometheus, if you compare it with  other AMIGA-PCI-solutions on the market?

First of all, Prometheus is the first PCI bridge for Z3 Amiga computers already avaliable from your local dealers.
It is also the first one which already has Warp3D drivers. Prometheus is made on a top-knoch level. Starting from the quality of design and production of the 4-layer circuit board, through the way it`s packed (colorfull box, printed color manual, additional gfx connector, stabilizing cords etc.) to the support we give to this product and its users. Did we tell that you will get 3D drivers? You got it. Ethernet card drivers? Here you go. Free, non-nda SDK? It`s also here.
And all this only in a month time from the official day of release and two months from the publication of first press announcement about Prometheus! What took other companies almost a year, we gave you in a month.

Someone can say, that 12mb/s transfer on Z3 is not enough.The truth is, that we are being realistic here. We could state that Prometheus will run 16mb/s, but why should we lie to you? As it was demonstrated on this year Benelux Amiga Show, Promethes + Voodoo3 in A4000 with a decent PPC card makes Heretic 2 run 27-30 fps in 800x600 16bit resolution. Is that not enough? If not, just wait for our drivers for newest gfx cards (H2 will run 2 - 3 times faster).
And imagine that you`re going to put a PPC card on one of your PCI slots. Then Prometheus + PPC card will make a completely
new mainboard, inside of your Amiga (which will then become, just an additional "card"). It may sound funny, but when you`re going to set your Prometheus into a master mode, it will get in control of the whole computer and your G3/4 will be your main CPU.
When we promise something, we make it happend.
To make you sure that the quality of Prometheus is really good, we give you 5 years warrancy. It`s like eternity in a computer life, but that`s what we expect from our products, it has to work for the whole eternity and one day more ;-)

What do you think of the current plans of Amiga Inc. (Amiga OS 4.0, AmigaOne, AmigaDE)?

The current Amiga Inc. plans give us bright future. Amiga OS4 -> 5 will give us a smooth transformation from Classical Amiga to the new generation, AmigaDE computers, like AmigaONE, which is for sure a very good design even if we will compare it with the best of  PC mainboards.
AmigaDE is an important step forward not only for the Amiga, but for the whole computer market. It gives us a flexibility and stability of classical OS and a freedom that no one knew before. You are going to get completely independent from your hardware. It`s like somekind of a computer Nirvana :-)

What do you think of the current AMIGA market? Will there be a future for the "Classic"-AMIGA?

It´s time to let our Classic Amiga leave its standpost which it kept for so long. Our PCI bridge, "Prometheus", is one of those things which will let your Amiga survive for two years more, until the AmigaDE in all its glorywill become a fact.

What are your plans/projects for the future?  

As people keep asking us, why we don`t make a Prometheus in daughterboard version, I would like to say, that there is a serious possibility that we will make such Prometheus version, but it strongly depends on the sales of current one. That`s about the closest future.
We have some other ideas what we can make for current and future market, but let it be our little secret just for a little bit more time ;-)

Which games do you play in your spare time?

I love all kind of games, but recently, I`ve finished whole Heretic 2, played a lot in Earth 2140 (didn`t finish it - yet) and dynAMIte, as I like multiplayer games very much. I am looking for a little bit spare time to finish Shogo.

Which Amiga-Games impressed you in the last time?

Those with the best gfx. Few months ago Earth2140 but what impressed me most recently, was Shogo and Heretic2 on Voodoo3.

Do you think there will be a comeback for the Amiga as "Game-Computer"?

That`s possible on AmigaDE. Although I doubt that it will ever be considered as a pure games platform. People prefer game consoles, bigger systems are suited to work on them.

What do you do, when you are not working with/for the AMIGA (hobbies)?

I don`t have much spare time recently. Except working in Matay, I have to study as I am a law student on Kardynal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. My hobbies, if I remember well (when was the last time I could spare some time for it? I don`t remember ;-)... hmm... Oh yes, I like to travel, visit historical places, knowing other, different cultures (I like history - it simply fascinates me). But for now, the best way of relax, is when I go somewhere with my friends, even for a day or two, this is a real rest for me.
 

Interviewer: Anton Preinsack