So, 28.09.97:

Wolf Dietrich von phase 5 verfaßt eine erste Stellungnahme

phase 5 digital products is shipping the PowerUp boards as a complete solution, consisting of the powerful dual-processor hardware and the comprehensive PPC library and other stuff. The PPC library is a complete PPC native multitasking and multiprocessing kernel. It features everything that is necessary for all kind of software developments, even for adoption of different or future OS versions. The information about disadvantages and slow communication between the two CPUs is nonsense, as our system software provides a comprehensive message and signalling system, which even provides protectable memory areas for each task, making PowerUp-compliant software ready for future memory-protected OS updates or versions.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE FUNCTIONALITY WHICH HAAGE&PARTNER OUTLINES AND PROMOTES IS NOTHING SPECIAL, BUT A STANDARD FUNCTIONALITY PROVIDED BY THE PHASE 5 POWERUP SYSTEM SOFTWARE. We simply did not make so much noise about it. It is also nonsense that the WarpUp software by Haage&Partner is faster then the PowerUp system software from phase 5 digital products; this may only be true when StormC is used for the compilation a PowerUp application.

The WarpUp from Haage&Partner is a solution which is not compatible to the phase 5 solution. As it does not use the HAL that is provided by phase 5 digital products, but hacks the hardware by using an incomplete knowledge of the hardware functionality - which has been aquired by reengineering the phase 5 digital products software - it is most likely that it will not work with future revision changes or different product releases of the PowerUp series.

Furthermore, phase 5 digital products will not tolerate that an incompatible software takes over the control of the PowerUp hardware and prevents the user from running software that has been developed for the PowerUp boards by phase 5 digital products as well as many other vendors. All software which is supplied by phase 5, and in which we have invested lots of work and financial efforts to make the PowerUp a useful product, would be disabled once the Haage&Partner software is installed in the system. That includes for example the fast CyberGL native library as well as the MPEG video and audio decoding integrated into CGX V3. Consequently, third party products using such advanced functionality would not run. USAGE OF THE THE HAAGE&PARTNER SOLUTION WOULD RESULT IN A COMPLETE INCOMPATIBILITY MESS. In the interest of our customers, who buy our products with high expectations, and all our developers who expect a completely compatible product line, we will take care that the phase 5 system software can not be disabled.

Haage&Partner has - from the beginning - rejected to use the ELF format which phase 5 has introduced on the PowerUp boards. The reason to choose this widely accepted format was to open the Amiga/PowerUp development to industry software standards. As an example, the ELF format allows professional development for PowerUp even on other platforms (such as Motorola PPC systems, IBM AIX systems, even on Sun or under WindowsNT), where high performance PPC Cross compilers are available, which integrate far superior experience and performance; phase 5 is currently testing such compilers which may offer the chance to accelerate software such as the CyberGL native library and the PPC MPEG library even further. Additonally, soon an update for SAS/C on the Amiga can be expected, which supports PowerUp and the ELF format.

Haage&Partner, instead, wants to establish their own "extended Hunk-format", which may is derived from the Amiga Hunk format, but still a new and proprietary solution. It is a concept that forces developers to use the only solution supporting this format - the Storm C compiler by Haage&Partner. Haage&Partner declares it's product being open and Amiga-compliant - in fact, it is only open to the Haage&Partner standard and compliant to their own software solutions.

At this point, it is important to mention that the software concepts of phase 5 digital products have all the time been focused on developments that open doors and smooth upgrade paths to future and completely revised OS versions, which incorporate functionalities such as memory protection and multi-processing (which is not supported by the Haage&Partner concept, BTW). This has e.g. also been proposed to Amiga International/Gateway2000 in May this year, together with our offer for extensive technological cooperation. To reach such a goal, we feel it is mandatory to set today guidelines for programming that make current Amiga/PowerUp developments more independent from the current OS revision by clear structured and object-oriented programming, instead of using the StormC concept of simply recompiling older sources (this issue will be adressed in detail later).

As the solution from Haage&Partner is not compatible and can - because of it's proprietary software concept - not fullfill demands of professional developers, it is very unlikely that developers will choose it. phase 5 digital products highly recommends not to use this incompatible system, as well as the Storm C compiler which - because of the concept - is wasting most of the performance that the PowerUp boards can deliver (this issue will also be adressed in detail later).

phase 5 digital products has supported Haage&partner with free developer systems, as well as all necessary information to develop compatible software and tools, thus enabling Haage&Partner to become a leading software vendor. We also held many meetings explaining our strategy and goals to make the PowerUp a useful platform not only for a new generation of high-performance applications, but also for the development towards a new OS or OS version that fullfills the demands of the next century. To our surprise and disappointment Haage&Partner has mainly used their status to create a replacement for the PowerUp system software which is intended to set a standard controlled by Haage&Partner, and they even attempt to trash the complete and comprehensive software development in which we have spend many efforts. At the same time, they have yet not been able to present a stable running PowerPC application which the Amiga/PowerUp user would have an advantage from. We highly disregard this contraproductive and confrontational behaviour, and will completely drop any support for Haage&Partner as a PowerUp developer as well as for any of their products.

   

Ausgabe 11/97