News about the AmigaNG
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News about the AmigaNG
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As user of one of the first A500 until now I denied myself to verbalize an explicit position concerning the future of the Amiga (One?). Not, that I am not interested in this matter, but in the first place I want to attend my computer system as well as it serves me.
What did we learn out of the experiences of the past? It is obvious, that the time finally has come to kick Microsoft fully into the backside in a way, that Billy by himself will feel the pain. I am glad that this man lives in the US, because I might not have been content with a pie :-)
The most important step on the new route is the development of the Amiverse. This will take care, that Microsoft will have only minor commercial significance after a period of 5 - 10 years. What has to be done about this matter?
Before all Bill McEwen must keep "the thingies together" (knock on wood :-) ). I do not know any computer range where there occurred in such a long period so many diverging evolutions and the system itself is still present. Therewith the question for the name is put up, what means, the conceptual definition of the new Amiga. I'd like to suggest the name "Amiga Millennium". The term "Millennium" is public property, a contemporary fact. Nobody may patent it, not even a "von Gravenreuth".
As next the OS has to be looked upon. What does it look like? Is the Amiverse consistent with the ideas of the Phoenix consortium? The know-how of this group must be used with highest efficiency. It is not yet completely clear, what will be the status of the MorphOS development. Especially positive consequences will have the experiences of the AROS group. Becaus with this it will be possible to run the old software in an emulation environment (OS3.x). But here the mistake of Gates must not be repeated: More important than the emulation of the old environment is the development of the new one. The distribution of resources is a critical and difficult venture.
Which is the hardware the new Amiga ought to have? I do not want to list all and everything, only a few important points: It is a very good thing, that Matrox, the most experienced graphics adapter manufacturer is aboard. The new Amiga should have a single bus interface (SCSI, Firewire, own development or?) for the connection of any peripheral equipment.
The UMA (Unified Memory Access) conception, which was terminated together with the CAIPIRANHA chip, is valuable enough to be reconsidered anew. Concerning the processor I'd modestly advise the Crusoe as sole alternative - there is nothing more up-to-date recently, or is it? Furthermore the Amiga ought to be supplied with 3D-glasses - this is where the new Amiga market is aiming at.
The options which Gibson presented in his novel "Newromancer" today are as a whole technically possible - so it is the time to use them. :-)
The organization of the main memory is a challenging item, here only this remark: Important is a proper garbage collection for the graphics and sound output, otherwise "the fastest Paule is good for nothing"! In the system itself there should starting with OS version 5.0 be integrated an AI help system (Rachel Racoon!).
Concerning Sound: The new Amiga ought to have a good sound. It must be smooth and groovy. What does this mean? I imagine the possibility of voice input and output on OS level. This could be realised with Version 6.0. In comparison with that the in- and output of smells is an unnecessary variety, the air pollution (by fossile combustibles) is big enough by now :-)
I do not claim, that all those imaginations pretend to be realisable but this is the line which might be followed. The question for the price is definite: As inexpensive as possible.
Wether it will be possible to realise all this for appr. 1000 US$, I cannot estimate. But this limit ought to be a guide-line. Furthermore I believe it is important not to overfreight the new model - an overnight revolution weakens more than it can be accepted. Bill McEwen certainly will confirm this.
AMIGA RULEZ!
Stefan Czinczoll <sn074cz@uni-duisburg.de>
