From: ganoe@cs.vt.edu (Craig H. Ganoe) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc,comp.sys.amiga.hardware,comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Re: PPC cards Date: Sun, 31 Aug 1997 15:05:12 GMT Organization: Virginia Tech Message-ID: <34097992.173609887@news.vt.edu> References: <13216814@sourcery.han.de> <5u3mif$c3e$1@coranto.ucs.mun.ca> <34209d4d.70207396@nntp.ix.netcom.com> <5u8nq5$mpc$1@coranto.ucs.mun.ca> <342ced73.116017177@nntp.ix.netcom.com> <34083b7a.92177133@news.vt.edu> <1001.7182T690T2222@angeldos.demon.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: as5200-13.sl056.cns.vt.edu X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.11/32.235 Lines: 76 Path: 195.95.96.10!news.unisource.be!planetinternet.be!newsgate.unisource.nl!bullseye.news.demon.net!demon!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!feed1.news.erols.com!infeed1.internetmci.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!198.82.160.249!solaris.cc.vt.edu!not-for-mail Xref: 195.95.96.10 comp.sys.amiga.misc:151728 comp.sys.amiga.hardware:150519 comp.sys.amiga.games:115611 On 31 Aug 97 11:30:44 +0000, Tim wrote: >>On Sat, 30 Aug 1997 10:29:38 GMT, arami@ix.netcom.com (ARAMI) wrote: >>>On 30 Aug 1997 09:06:12 GMT in article <5u8nq5$mpc$1@coranto.ucs.mun.ca> >>> gnoel@morgan.ucs.mun.ca (George Noel) wrote: >>>And that makes it related to the PPC cards in...? >>>Shipping a games with card to add some attraction is a thing, and >>>delaying a card the whole Amiga community is waiting for, just to wait >>>for a game is another. > >>Bah, I'm not waiting for this card at all. I'm waiting for AI to >>announce what its PPC strategy is. Which is what everyone else should >>be doing instead of falling for this Phase5 hype. > >Because they own the rights to the technology? Is that reason enough? I have no idea what you're asking here. Sure Phase5 owns the rights to the technology they develop. What's your point. I just said I don't want anything of it, at least until I know if it fits into AI's plans for a PPC Amiga OS. >Curious. >If GW have any sense they'll not leave *any* amiga owner out of the running - >including those using PowerUp boards. The Amiga, In 1997, is entirely dependant >on third party companies and their hardware for keeping it afloat (such as it >is). > I wouldn't want to leave any Amiga owner out of the running, but I wouldn't want to make the Amiga bound to some hacked up Amiga architecture either. For example, say AI decides to make AmigaOS 4.0 CHRP (PReP, whatever else you like to call it) compliant or an even better hardware architecture for that matter (for those advocates out there of a custom chipset Amiga). Wow! Great stuff we all say, but then the whining starts. Oh, but all us other people bought these cards from Phase5. Now AI has to make a decision. To support this totally different hardware architecture or not. You do understand the problem here don't you? This is essentially two different OS's, at the hardware level at least, that AI would have to develop and support. Plus, no software written for Phase5's boards will run under this new AmigaOS (but that's another story too). Sure, the PPC chip is the same, but the hardware interface to the system is totally different. In a portable OS (which is another story), this is the hard part (hopefully the only part) of porting the OS, because you have to write totally different code for every architecture you support. I really hope AI doesn't decide to delay coming out with a PPC Amiga just because it has to write and maintain a PPC AmigaOS for Phase5's boards as well. Yep, Phase5 did the Amiga a service by developing 040 and 060 accelerators for many years and by developing advanced graphics and SCSI solutions. My hat's off to them (but of course you understand they did this to make money) but, these new PPC boards of theirs are their last shot at making money off the Amiga before we see a shiny new PPC Amiga with PCI and all that good stuff which will take a good share of their market (it's all really about money). Blind faith by Amiga owners that Phase5 is always looking out for us good old Amiga owners because Commodore/AT/AI ain't will lead to irreparable fragmentaion of the Amiga community. The Amiga community didn't need a Commodore banner to stand under before, they don't need a Phase5 one now. The Amiga community needs to stand together and decide what they want. There are people out there supporting that kind of effort now, support them. (OK, somewhere in there I ended up on a soapbox ... I'll move on.) What concerns me is that there are people out there blindly preordering Phase5 PPC cards or anxiously awaiting their release, not even understanding how they work. People really need to wait and understand and see the big picture. Craig