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Amiga

Retro Activity: MorphOS 1.0 170

Posted by timothy from the when-hobbies-get-stuck dept.
An anonymous reader submites: "You can read it from their development page if you like to get the word from the horses mouth. 'The current version is 1.0. Feedback welcome.' Hey, if you can't revive a dead horse, whip it some more, yeah?" All the better to run programs on their "old Commodore(TM) A1000, A500, A2000, A1200, A3000(T) and A4000(T) systems as efficiently as possible." Everyone has different uses for time.
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Retro Activity: MorphOS 1.0 More

Retro Activity: MorphOS 1.0

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  • Can I run Dragonzord??

  • Uh (Score:1, Interesting)

    by sludgely ( 447712 )
    The correct expression is to "beat a dead horse" not to "whip a dead horse."

    Just FYI.

  • Great Day! (Score:5, Funny)

    by joyoflinux ( 522023 ) <thejoyoflinux AT yahoo DOT com> on Sunday October 13, 2002 @08:48PM (#4443013)
    It's a great day...neither BeOS [slashdot.org] nor Amiga is dead! :-)

    • Re:Great Day! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Longinus ( 601448 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @08:50PM (#4443026) Homepage
      I'm gonna go find a story about OS/2. It will surely get accepted today!

      • Re:Great Day! (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        OS/2 isn't dead, it's just in really weird nitch places. I believe the interface of the new copy machine at the place I work actually uses OS/2. I hear many ATMs do also

        • OS/2 (Score:5, Funny)

          by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @11:03PM (#4443416)
          OS/2 isn't dead...it just smells that way. :)
          • The next story will be "Attack of the UNDEAD OS", in which our hero finds himself pitted against the dreaded "Lord Of The Dammed" AKA Bill Gates, who is trying to spread the evil undead OS known as Windows ABCD ...WXYZ the story is set in the year 2003.
        • While I was on a road trip over the summer we stopped in Oklahoma somewhere for gas. The ATM was "down," but I went over and played with it for a few minutes, found out that it was in fact running OS/2.

          It's freaking weird to see the OS/2 window decoration on an error message in amber on an ATM though! Especially when you know it's the kind of ATM that normally looks like a telnet connection (characters only).

          --
          Daniel
      • 1.) OS/2 in general is not dead. We currently call Microsoft's hideous mutation of the original core "Windows XP" (we can call it "Microsoft OS/2 5.1" if you'd like).

        2.) OS/2 Warp is not dead. It's called eCommStation now, remember? :)
      • I'm gonna go find a story about OS/2. It will surely get accepted today!

        Roger! Okay, I'll grab one about VMS. [levitte.org] Then can we call it teh day?
      • And don't forget about BSD either. Today we could prove to all the trolls ones and for all that BSD isn't dead yet :D
      • Last i heard it was still a viable and shipping product, though at the moment i cant remember who IBM sold it off too..

    • Re:Great Day! (Score:4, Funny)

      by armb ( 5151 ) on Monday October 14, 2002 @06:05AM (#4444631) Homepage
      Well, Be did claim that it would be the "Amiga for the 90s".

  • I'm speechless (Score:3, Funny)

    by Kwelstr ( 114389 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @08:49PM (#4443021)
    I am without speech! The Comodore is back baby! ;-)

    Don't be so open-minded your brains will fall out.

  • Its not for C64 (Score:5, Informative)

    by ageitgey ( 216346 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @08:54PM (#4443039) Homepage
    Unlike the post says, this isn't an OS for the old Commodore computers. This is a reimplementation of that old OS for PowerPC machines. They are trying to maintain API compatibility so you can run the old programs right on a PowerPC box.

    From the website:
    "Under the Quark kernel a PowerPC(TM) native reimplementation of the OS we know from the Commodore(TM) A1000, A500, A2000, A1200, A3000(T) and A4000(T) systems runs as a mixture of a virtual emulation and a driver. We call this OS driver from now on the A-Box."

  • Where? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jagapen ( 11417 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:00PM (#4443054)
    All I see on that page is version 1.0 of the "MorphOS Development Reference Manual," but nowhere on the site do I see anything about a 1.0 release of the OS itself.
    Furthermore, the site says that the purpose of MorphOS is to run Amiga programs FREE OF the old Amiga hardware.

  • Morphos screenshots (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:00PM (#4443055)
    OSNews had an informative article a few days ago about Morphos. Check the article and 2 screenshots of the OS here:

    http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1897 [osnews.com]

  • Interesting.. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by grub ( 11606 )


    So all these ancient Commodore systems are growing in popularity but *BSD is dying, eh?

  • Try again.... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's basically a OS that runs on a new system, but also supports Amiga 3000's, 1200's, and 4000's with PPC Accelerator boards in it.

    It also is competing with Amiga OS 4.0 which will run on the same accelerated Amiga's AND the new Amiga One.
    • "New Amiga One"? Is there a NEW Amiga?

      • Re:Try again.... (Score:2, Informative)

        by Seehund ( 86897 )
        "New Amiga One"? Is there a NEW Amiga?

        No, there isn't. There will be no more Amigas, instead future versions of AmigaOS will run on third party hardware (and on Amigas with PPC accelerators). Mai Logic's Teron CX [mai.com] POP motherboard is one such piece of hardware, although AmigaOS will only be allowed to run on this board when it's renamed "AmigaOne G3SE" and distributed by Eyetech Ltd. [eyetech.co.uk]. Hardware must be licensed, provide a hardware-license verification mechanism (known as "anti-piracy measures" in the marketing waffle) and be sold by a licensed distributor in order to be allowed to run AmigaOS, and AmigaOS will only be available bundled with such hardware.

        This hardware licensing scheme was designed by Amiga Inc. with "consultation" from Eyetech, and it's hardly surprising that Eyetech is the only hardware distributor that has acquired such a license.

        There was once upon a time going to be newly designed, proprietary Amiga hardware, back when Eyetech was a "hardware partner" of Amiga Inc. These "AmigaOne 1200/4000" boards never appeared, and instead third party hardware is to be used (although the advantages of getting rid of "Amiga" hardware are negated with this compulsory licensing madness).

        Read more about it here [8bit.co.uk].
      • ... check Amiga.com [amiga.com] for information about the new Amiga One, AOS 3.9 and 4.0, and a few other things. All the Amiga really needs now are *new* programs that people will use, and it will be kicking and not just alive. ;)

  • Apple PPC's? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by trans_err ( 606306 )
    so what are the chances on using MorphOS on consumer Apple PPC's? Seems like a great alternative for old hardware and would certainly be a positive move for the MorphOS.
    • highly unlikely.

      For starters, they're fundamentally different architectures. On top of that, one of the things that made the Amiga so great was the multitude of co-processors it had which were -essential- to it working like an Amiga; if the new OS didn't rely on them it'd be relatively useless.

      • Re:Apple PPC's? (Score:2, Informative)

        by Seehund ( 86897 )
        highly unlikely.

        For starters, they're fundamentally different architectures.

        What the article fails to mention is that MorphOS will be shipped on (together with Yellow Dog Linux) an in-house designed POP-based OpenFirmware-equipped motherboard called Pegasos [bplan-gmbh.de]. While different from a New World PowerMac, it's not "fundamentally different architectures". This board already runs OSX with Mac-On-Linux. MorphOS on (reasonably modern) Mac hardware is quite likely, though not in its initial release.
      • Don't discount it until you've read the FAQ:

        Q: Will MorphOS support any other hardware?
        A: MorphOS is open to any new platform or hardware. To have support it requires complete specs of the hardware to port the low level hardware code.

        Q: Will MorphOS run on Apple Hardware?
        A: Not at the moment but it's looked at. Don't expect real information about this until end of 2002.

        I for one, would love this! All Amiga-classics running semi-native on my Mac. Cool :)
      • Ahhh, the Blitter, Copper, Denise and Fat Agnes!
        Those were some fun chips!

  • Lets see..... (Score:4, Funny)

    by sheepab ( 461960 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:20PM (#4443118) Homepage
    hal.rom, kernel.rom, now all we need is cluster.com so we can set up a beowulf clu....er....nevermind.

  • MorphOS (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:30PM (#4443152)
    This OS is made in the "spirit" of the AmigaOS, but with all the stuff a modern os should have, plus it runs Amiga programs through a combination of 68k emulation and the AmigaOS api ported to PowerPC. There is also a PowerPC motherboard being made especially for the os, called Pegasos [thendic-france.com], Thendic France [thendic-france.com] is the main distributor. MorphOS just got bumped to release version 1.0 and both the motherboard and OS are available for sale.

    This motherboard also comes with a version of linux for PPC. Besides that MorphOS will also run on Amigas equiped with a PPC cpu and rumour goes a PowerMac version could be released one day.

    • Re:MorphOS (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Ralph Schmidt of MorphOS would not know the "spirit" of the AmigaOS if it bit him in the *ss. He and I fought very hard, a long time ago, about his plans of "unix-ifying" AmigaOS. He wanted to bring in more and more UNIX features, features that do not fit well within the Amiga programming model.

      I cannot go into all the details here and now, but let me give one example.

      AmigaOS does linking at compile time, and not at runtime. Its libraries work with a jumptable - fixed offsets in the table contain the jumps to specific functions, and the compiler selects the right offset during compilation (rather than during loading/linking as on UNIX). This is not particularly better or worse, simply different. I don't really want to fight a flamewar here, there isn't much of a point to that.

      Amiga 'devices' (floppydrives, harddisks, the shell, the network, serial, basically _anything_ that does IO in some way) are simply libraries with a pre-defined set of functions in the jumptable. In C++ terms, they are objects, derived from a pure-virtual baseclass. This is what allows the OS to load devices at runtime - it simply loads it as a library, adds it to the device list and pretends it is a 'generic device that can do IO'.

      Now this mechanism relies heavily on the AmigaOS way of doing libraries, and was effectively lost when Ralph fucked it up. I am sure he has hacked in some sort of support to 'emulate' it, but what makes AmigaOS special is not the fact that you can somehow fuck around with it to 'emulate' stuff, nor its feature set, nor its API, but its sheer _elegance_.

      Any OS that wants to be its spiritual successor must seek to achieve that elegance, and if it cannot then it has nothing to do with it.

      As for the PPC boards in legacy Amiga's: they are a pile of shit. Sure, doing something CPU-intensive on the PPC is reasonably quick. Mine can even run Quake, without a 3D card no less. But the PPC only runs a simplistic scheduler, and the real OS still runs on the 68K, and as soon as you want to do communication of any kind between the PPC and the 68K you have to flush caches on both CPU's. Whoosh - that was the sound of your performance dropping to C64-like levels.

      These days I mostly use Linux and some legacy OS for gaming support, but I am still hoping one day we will see an OS as elegant as AmigaOS (neither Linux nor the legacy OS are particularly elegant). I kinda like QNX, but it has not much of a software base so there isn't much point to running it...

  • Intended hardware. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:31PM (#4443153)

    MorphOS is intended for the POP-compliant Pegasos [bplan-gmbh.de] PowerPC board from bPlan. Note that while a Realtek PHYceiver is listed, that's just the PHY; the ethernet controller itself is a Via Rhine derivative embedded in the southbridge. Pictures here. [bplan-gmbh.de] It can also run on classic Amigas with appropriate PowerPC accellerators; NetBSD is also being readied for the bPlan hardware.

    AmigaOS 4 [amiga.com] is the 'name [amiga.com]-brand' product, being produced under contract by Germany's Hyperion Software [hyperion-software.com]. It's intended for Eyetech's AmigaOne G3SE and XE [eyetech.co.uk] products, and Elbox's SharkPPC [elbox.com] accellerator in classic hardware with suitable PCI busboards. Hardware dongling of the AmigaOne (with respect to AmigaOS; Linux and *BSD will run unhindered), and continuing intellectual-property disputes may or may not effect the chances of OS4 support for the Pegasos.

    All three new PowerPC boards use MAI's PowerPC chipsets [mai.com], also seen on the Linux-friendly Barbie [penguinppc.org].

    Nor should we forget 'AmigaDE' or 'Amiga-Anywhere,' a crossplatform system based on Tao's Intent [withintent.biz] runtime + media libs, which is really quite cool even if they've just redesigned their site opaquely. the CEO of Gentoo provides a good writeup here [ibm.com].

    • Intended hardware - Addendum. (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Oh, and if you want *truly* retro, you'll have to look here [c64upgrade.de].

      The CommodoreOne actually integrates some features similar to the original Amiga, showing what a single hobbyist can accomplish in this day and age. Then again, perhaps times haven't changed much, since we all know who was the real brains behind the Lorraine... ;)

      Rest in peace, Mitchy... and you too, Jay.
    • Sorry, but Hyperion is from Belgium ;O)

      I'm going to buy the AmigaOne-XE and AmigaOS 4.0 :O)
    • nor should we forget that all of the above are closed proprietary systems...

      try http://www.aros.org for an open source implementation of AOS3.1 for 680x0, x86, PPC etc..

      recent builds can be downloaded from here http://www.ahsodit.com/aros/index.html

      most of AOS functionality is there. a Workbench replacement is currently in development

      most system friendly amiga apps only require a recompile..

      NBIAR
    • I wanted to buy a bplan motherboard for years. But they still aren't for sale. Pictures of prototypes just aren't as satisfying as using real physical boards, so I bought Asus boards instead. :(

      Truly the Classic Amiga legacy: user wanted it, user was willing to pay the extra bucks, user still couldn't have it.

  • Unfortunately... (Score:4, Funny)

    by distributed.karma ( 566687 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:31PM (#4443154)
    no one can be told what MorphOS is. You have to see it for yourself.

  • Different uses of time. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:37PM (#4443170)
    Everyone has different uses for time.

    Well, some like to play with old innovative OS:es, some like to play with old rebuild monolithic Unix:es, trying to use slow X servers as desktop enviroments.

    I leave it as an exercise for the reader, trying figuring out which one of those two options I find more attractive.

  • In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ekephart ( 256467 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:42PM (#4443187) Homepage
    "Therefore we are doing an API compatible PPC reimplementation of the OS using our own and AROS' technology, which we call A-Box. The goal is to extend the A-Box with new functionalities which it painfully needs and also work on a new OS layer using Quark functionality called Q-Box."

    In other news Microsoft is suing MorphOS in 47 states and in federal court for copyright infringement. A company spokeman said, "This is an obvious attempt to capitalize on Microsoft's patents and copyrights. We are committed to protecting consumers worldwide from themselves. MorphOS's blatant attacks on innovation in the industry will not be tolerated."
  • Oh wait... No it's not. Damn those Amigas are cool... They can survive a slashdotting!

  • Atari 800 - better (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by jfrumkin ( 97854 )
    Big deal - my Atari 800 with pop-out memory and game cartidges is better technology. Atari Atari Atari!!!

    (Hell, as long as we're reliving the past, let's *really* relive the past - you're either pro-Atari or pro-Commode-dore)
    • (Hell, as long as we're reliving the past, let's *really* relive the past - you're either pro-Atari or pro-Commode-dore)

      Well, I guess we know which one you are...

      --
      Mike Smith ( C-64 RAWKS D00D!!! ;-)
    • Up until 3 years ago, the company I work for was still using a bank of Atari 800's for video display.

      I could probably still find the rotting hulks in a closet somewhere.

  • The Amiga A1000 was the greatest PC of it's time (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hillct ( 230132 ) on Sunday October 13, 2002 @09:54PM (#4443221) Homepage Journal
    The Amiga A1000 was perhaps the most advanced piece of personal computing hardware of it's time. It ushered in the age of computer generated effects for television in the '80s as well as provided extraordinary graphical capabilities unmatched by any personal computer until the early 1990s. It was a horrible failure of the marketplace that this hardware platform did not find a sufficiently large customer base and it's wonderful to see that some groups seek to prolong the usefulness of this platform, regardless of the financial benefit. Consider it a service to the memory of evolutionary hallmarks of the computer industry.

    --CTH
    • Come on moderators, +5 for a personal, non-subjective praising of the old Amiga 1000!?

      Also, don't blame Amiga's failure on the marketplace, Commodore screwed things up badly time after time. Shifting of market focus, failure to deliver, low quality components (high return rate for substantial amounts of time), economical extravaganzas, do I need to go on?

      And if you think that average corporate offices should have chosen Amigas instead of PCs or Macs, then you obviously don't understand the corporate needs of the 80's. What the hell would an office computer do with advanced graphics, advanced sound, flickery colorscreens (either interlace or way to expensive monitors), an immature platform with a seriously buggy OS and hardly any software support (we're talking about A1000, right?)??? Not to speak about the dependence the company would get on one single, small supplier.

      Sure, I also regret how things turned out, but put the blame on those who deserves it. As far as I see it Atari Mega STs would have fit the corporate desktop much better (more user friendly GUI, cheaper hardware and a rock solid B/W screen), but I don't blame them for not choosing that either. Atari also screwed up a lot and was also a too small single supplier.

      • Atari also screwed up a lot and was also a too small single supplier.

        As opposed to Microsoft, which not only was a small supplier and had inferior technology? Microsoft was clearly a poor and irrational choice for companies. In fact, the technically and economically sensible thing for corporations in the 1980s would have been to deploy thin X-based clients and UNIX servers. PCs and Macs were, and still are, a waste of money and an IT nightmare in any corporate environment.

        However, I suppose it is good that all that wasted money has driven hardware costs way down so that the people who really need it now can get $1000 supercomputers on their desks. It's kind of silly that the beancounters at various businesses didn't figure it out; the same people wasting 90% of their IT budget on junk would have screamed bloody murder if their taxes had gone up by as much as 1% to support R&D in information technologies. Go figure.

      • Except that Commodore was hardly a small company back in those days, They were actually doing very well.. they were selling C64`s in huge volumes.

  • It's Over Man (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Lord Apathy ( 584315 )

    I know what it's like when a loved one passes away. How it feels to find that you most loved piece of hardware has passed away. For 7 years my only computer was my trusty old Amiga 500. Even when CBM went up in flames I still went out and imported a A3000 from Canida. So I feel your pain.

    It's time to let go man. Just drop it and walk away, don't look back. I said, don't look back.

    If you still believe you must have all the benfits of the Amiga, get your self a nice linux box. Shoot, a nice Mac will help go through the loss.

    Trust me, it's for the best

    • If you still believe you must have all the benfits of the Amiga, get your self a nice linux box.

      Linux certainly is a nice OS. But no matter how nice an OS you install, crappy hardware remains crappy. Where is the computer that will allow Linux to implement removable media handling like AmigaOS had? Where is the computer capable of perfect syncronisation between screen updates, screen refreshes, and sound? Where is the computer capable of moving pictures on the screen smoothly by just changing a few registers instead of copying it all to the new location? And where is the computer with the two nice mouse controllers like in my Amiga?
  • Oh, sure, this is great, but when do I get Duke Nukem Forever?
  • no, but you can get shogo and quake :)

  • All your Boing are belong to us, NOT! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 14, 2002 @12:51AM (#4443881)
    Sorry!

    Unless this is an Amiga Inc. story, It shouldnt run with the Amiga Boing Ball Logo (i.e. The Origional 1985, 8 x 8 checker pattern).

    MorphOS has a great logo: so thier stories should use the propper butterfly. Its a really nice logo too... . . . .

  • It's not the same without the Amiga (Score:5, Interesting)

    by myov ( 177946 ) on Monday October 14, 2002 @01:55AM (#4444077)
    Even though I'm typing this from a TiBook, stories like this remind me how much I miss using the Amiga. My A3000 sits on a shelf just above my BSD machine, and I still have my A500 downstairs (or A0.5K as some people liked to call it :) My 3000 (one of the few softboots) was having some hardware problems, and I just haven't had the time to really work at it. At the same time, I just can't seem to find a good use for it - Linux, BSD and MacOS X now take care of my needs.

    IMHO, the Amiga made using computers fun. It wasn't *what* you were doing, but *how* you were doing it (except for those ^#@! guru's) Now that Windows has taken over virtually everything, computers have become just a tool for getting work done, and it's become too routine. Linux and to an extent, MacOS X, have captured a lot of the spirit of the Amiga, and features that I had on my Amiga years ago are starting to make their return (I missed my CLI on my desktop machine!). Yet, it just isn't the same.

    Off topic, SASG [sasg.com] still appears to be active. Looking at some of the MUI screenshots, it's interesting to see how similar parts of MacOS X are - back in 1995!
    • I've had a CLI on a Desktop machine since Win95... Infact, I bothered with hacking shell="command.com" one day.
    • I have an Amiga 3000 too - its pretty nice. It still boots, but its got hardware problems as well. For instance disks keep mounting/unmounting on it. Filter keeps turning on and off.

      I replaced the cia's, but that really didn't fix anything. I bought an upgrade chipset, but they were out of dmac 4's - so I have a buster and a ramsey sitting in a box somewhere just waiting.

      I heard that nmos chips - the kind of chips every amiga used minus the A1200 and the A4000 degrade after a certian amount of years. Certianly seems the case. Then again the A3000 was a HOT computer - I melted more then one set of rubber feet off the bottom.

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