I barely finished and published my MorphOS 2.3 review for OSNews, and here we have the release of MorphOS 2.4. The biggest improvement, if you could call it that, is the one thing a lot of people have been waiting for: MorphOS 2.4 includes support for the entire range of PowerPC G4 Mac Mini computers from Apple.
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With 3 to 4 times the CPU power of the old EFIKA boards, Mac mini finally provides a platform where Morphos can really shine. Still, I wonder how many people with old Mac minis around will want to shell out the $150 for this. Also, given that Mac minis probably sold in fairly small numbers when compared to G4 laptops, lampshade iMacs and probably even G4 towers and cubes, I wonder how long it will be before someone gets it working on a wider array of Macs?
Edited 2009-10-12 23:02 UTC
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I tried it in my Powermac yesterday, it was the computer I'd just burnt the CD in, and only got as far as the white Quark/Open Firmwear, didn't try anything else, so tell us how you get on! Although I don't think there' much to be gained from using 2/faster processors, as it's so darn fast anyway.
A MorphOS laptop? yes please!
Member since:2005-07-27
A MorphOS laptop? yes please!
Did your G4 Power Mac have a Radeon series card (from 7000 up to 9200)? Was it a stock Mac CPU or an upgrade? These two details could play a big part in why it didn't work for you.
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2008-12-15
Does anyone have any idea why other G4 machines won't work? Would it be the specific type of chipset, video card, etc., contained on those machines and a general lack of drivers for other (iMac, eMac, etc.) hardware? Just wondering, because I happen to still own an old eMac G4.
Member since:2005-07-13
well when building an OS for a platform you need to have al the equiptment to write teh drivers. since there were MANY releases of teh G4 power mac's and a decent amount for teh eMac's it would require teh devs to have to suport more hardware configs. this poses an issue when there aren't that many devs or much time. also mini's are cheaper and easier to get ahold of. it all comes down to time to market and marketing towards your target audience.
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About 1 month ago, I did a Buy It Now on eBay for a 733MHz G4 QuickSilver with 1Gb RAM and GeForce2MX video card... $70 (incl. shipping). Oh, wow... how horribly EXPENSIVE! Totally broke the bank buying it! How will I ever afford to buy food now!
I never saw a G4 Mini going that cheap.
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I guess I've been spoiled by systems like linux and bsd where porting isn't really much of an issue. Supporting non documented hardware has always been the issue for these.
I'm guessing that you're implying that morphos isn't very portable? If that's true then I would suggest they MUST perform this port to clean up any bad internal code.
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I'm guessing as well, but in general, if you do not write an OS with portability in mind, it is difficult to port it afterwards. That's not to say that the code is "bad" somehow. It may be code that's beautifully tailored to the specifics of the PPC platform, but very difficult to port to ARM or Intel.
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I've never used Amiga OS or any compatible system but it's great that those people finally have a beefy system that they can buy from ebay for around 200 EUR, no more < 1 GHz mobo for the price of a netbook :-)
On the other hand: The OS costs almost as much as the computer itself, but hey, so what?
Edited 2009-10-13 10:51 UTC
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So would I, but I don't have a G4 Mac Mini; that's why I am hoping my PowerMac will work (unlikely). G4 Minis are still ~275-300EUR here, and that's too pricey for hardware that is obsolete (even Apple considers it to be as such).
I'm just a poor student.
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Experimentation time!
I was thinking the same thing. And Mac versions of the Radeon (from the 9200 down to the 7000) are about US$30-$40, when I looked last night. How much is MorphOS (in US dollars)? I can't find a link to where you can buy it on their site.
If no one is writing new software for the Amiga platform (or MorphOS), then MorphOS has a very limited and narrow lifespan. Fast is good (1.4GHz G4... ZOOMIN!), but racing your engine (fast), stuck in park (no apps), does nothing but burn up your engine and waste gas (waste of time and money to no avail)!
Edited 2009-10-13 19:05 UTC
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2005-07-11
I'd love to see support expanded to desktop Macs like the B&W G3 and later. I have several of those with 350mhz G3 processors and up that I'd love to use as useful systems with a modern OS.
The price is way too high. 150 euros is $222US. Too much for a niche OS with such limited hardware/software support. Cut the price and go for volume.
Since most users will download the ISO and burn it themselves, distributing the keycode via email is little cost. At $99US a copy, most of that is profit anyway.
At that price point, I'd bet the volume would more than double to make up for the price cut.
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For the price thing I totally agree. 99 would be the perfect price. I even guess 149 EUR would sell better than 150 EUR. While we all actively know 149 and 150 are vrtually the same ammount there is also the non-concious component that helps us to decide. And for this we need these threshold prices like 99.
So, while I am crazy enough to spend 150 EUR for a keyfile (did so before for a keyfile for my Efika and haven't regretted it), I would strongly suggest to lower the price to 99.- (EUR or even US$), but the 150 are too bold for the majority.
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2005-06-29
Okay, I just spent a lot of time trying to get MorphOS to boot on my PowerMac G4 (dual G4 400Mhz, 1GB, Radeon 8500), and it didn't work. It hang at the Quark/OpenFirmware part (MorphOS users will know).
In case you want to try this out on your own Mac, this is the OpenFirmware command you need to try and boot the Quark kernel:
ok> boot cd:\mac_pp32\boot.img
Too bad. Took me a while to realise that the Mini boot.img was located in the mac_ppc32 directory - this might seem like the first place to look, but please keep in mind that all the other boot.img files (default, peg1, and efika) are all located at the root.
In any case, I've been at university all day, and played with this all night. In other words, normal OSNews service will resume tomorrow.
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It won't boot on anything other than a Mac Mini G4(any version), so don't waste your time trying to get it to work on an eMac, PowerMac or whatever.
But with any Mac Mini it will work. I recommend the 1.5Ghz model with 64MB vram. I picked two up from a local buy/sell site cheap.
There are forums on http://www.morphzone.org and you can talk directly to the MorphOS developers on IRC at irc.freenode.net on channel #morphOS
I recommend downloading the really great mplayer port, Wookiechat for IRC
You can also find MorphOS software here:
http://morphos.lukysoft.cz/en/
or
http://www.morphos-news.de
or on Aminet at
http://www.aminet.net. Look for the blue butterfly logo which identifies MorphOS native software. However most system-friendly older Amiga 68K software works.
Make sure you also check out http://www.amigazeux.net which has some really cool OS utilities.
Edited 2009-10-14 03:56 UTC
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Although I will be paying the price for MorphOS, I do think they should offer regional pricing. The Euro is not what it was against the pound, and I would prefer paying in my own currency. Aye, the British should stop being stubborn and enter the Euro zone. Anyway, how about some pricing for each market? Dollars, Pounds, and Euros. That would help things immensely.
Also the guy think people will just run OS X, I've already got access to three OS X machines. I don't need another! MorphOS is much more interesting.......
Member since:2006-01-09
And, pray tell, how should the Brits prepare? Like Latvia perhaps? 'Tis not such a trivial question especially with Germany headed in one direction and Italy, Spain and Ireland headed in quite another.
Given the current pace of FOREX fluctuations; setting prices in several currencies is a PITA especially for folk whom we want concentrating on software development.
[rant mode on]
Having paid for American software at double the prices that Americans pay over a period of twenty years; my plea is for transparent pricing that reflects dignity on all sides. Yes, there is VAT (Value Added Tax) but it's just not THAT high. I am not ranting at MorphOs but more at the widespread status quo of decades past and present.
[rant mode off]
FWIW - by all means drop the price for the "two thirds" world and so on, just be up front about it.
