Amiga & AROS Archive

AROS Gets New Installer

Submitted by novaburst 2007-10-03 Amiga & AROS 10 Comments

AROS developer Neil Cafferkey has released the first beta version of AROS' new installer/partitioner tool, and The AROS Show takes a look at it. "So there are some bugs, but compared to how it used to be to try and install AROS natively this was a breeze! It is awesome to finally have a native version running. I have been running the hosted version of AROS for years now."

Amiga Inc., an Open Letter to the Amiga Community

Thom Holwerda 2007-10-03 Amiga & AROS 100 Comments

Bill McEwen of Amiga, Inc. writes in a public letter: "Over the last several months and in fact couple of years, Amiga has continued our software and business development and generally kept quiet. This path of quietness was chosen so that we communicated only when there was a development that culminated in a product that could be purchased. In recent weeks, our being quiet has been interpreted as weakness or an open invitation to attempt harming our business relationships and opportunities with partners and customers."

Three Men, a Cow, and the Beating of the Dead Horse

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-30 Amiga & AROS 70 Comments

The Amiga world is an interesting one to follow. As an outsider, it is almost impossible to fully understand all the processes at work over there. The various companies, the individuals, the developers, The Three Men And A Cow who own an AmigaOne - they are not making it any easier. The past few weeks have seen quite a few news items regarding the Amiga platform. Did they help in creating a clearer picture of where the Amiga stands?

Submitted by AmiKit 2007-09-28 Amiga & AROS 14 Comments

AmiKit 1.4.0 has been released. AmiKit is a free compilation of more than 300 Amiga programs. It runs under emulation on your Windows system (Linux install guide included). The new version has been graphically improved, is faster and supports dual core CPUs and Vista. For AmiKit to work, you do need Amiga ROMs and the AmigaOS, which can be obtained via AmigaForever, for instance.

DiscreetFX, Partners Want to Buyout Amiga, Inc.

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-25 Amiga & AROS 48 Comments

Tedd Gallion, speaking on behalf of a group called the DiscreetFX partners, has sent out a letter to the Amiga community with quite an interesting topic: to buy out the AmigaOS4 and the Amiga brand from Amiga, Inc. The letter states that DiscreetFX and its partners have contacted Amiga, Inc., but that the company asked a completely insane amount of money. DiscreetFX and its partners now ask the community to contact Amiga, Inc., and urge them to sell the Amiga OS and its brand to DiscreetFX for a fair price. "Urge Amiga Inc. sell to us for a fair price. We will end the lawsuit, we will end the fighting., we will end the madness. If we were in charge Amiga OS 4.0 would be available today on SAM." Spelling and grammar weren't exactly a priority in the letter, ~~so credibility is a bit dubious~~. The credibility has been more or less confirmed.

ACK Amigas Fail to Appear, Hyperion Present at Pianeta Amiga

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-17 Amiga & AROS 62 Comments

At OSNews, we have kept you updated about the Amiga hardware announced by ACK controls. Supposedly ready for shipping in May, we are now in the second half of September, and still no hardware. Interestingly, nor ACK Controls, nor Amiga, Inc., will be present at the upcoming Amiga show Pianeta Amiga - leading to the inevitable conclusion that like so many other announcements in the Amiga world, this one was yet another big puff of air. All hope is not lost, though: ACube Systems has announced the SAM440ep, a PowerPC board, of which industrial versions are already available (according to ACube). The consumer version is supposedly ready to ship starting 22nd September 2007, and interestingly, Hyperion will be present at the ACube booth at Pianeta Amiga. Finally, new Amiga hardware? Seeing is believing, many will say.

A History of the Amiga, Part 3: the First Prototype

Thom Holwerda 2007-08-22 Amiga & AROS 23 Comments

The third installment of Ars' series on the history of the Amiga begins with the third prototype and covers the rest of Amiga's history as an independent company. "Modern chips are designed using high-powered workstations that run very expensive chip simulation software. However, the fledgling Amiga company could not afford such luxuries. It would instead build, by hand, giant replicas of the silicon circuitry on honeycomb-like plastic sheets known as breadboards."

Submitted by Raffaele 2007-08-15 Amiga & AROS 71 Comments

In a discussion on Amiga forum site The Amigans, the Friedens twin brothers (developers of AmigaOS 4.0 exec kernel) revealed that the complete Amiga OS architecture will move ahead to a new design. The new AmigaOS (let's call it AmigaOS 4+1) will include some sort of virtual environment in which old (AmigaOS 4.0) applications will run as separate tasks, in their own address space. MorphOS, an Amiga-like operating system, employs a similar method to allow for compatibility with older Amiga 3.x applications. AmigaWorld of course also discusses the matter.

A History of the Amiga, Part 2: the Birth of Amiga

Thom Holwerda 2007-08-13 Amiga & AROS 20 Comments

"When it first arrived, the Amiga was a dream machine, and some have said it was ten years ahead of its time. The second installment of our series on the history of the Amiga picks up with the birth of the company and the appearance of the first Amiga PC."

AmigaSYS 3 Plus Released

Submitted by Dary 2007-08-07 Amiga & AROS 5 Comments

AmigaSYS 3 Plus has been released. "AmigaSYS is a pre-installed Amiga operation system pack for WinUAE and for high performance Amiga computers. AmigaSYS contains everything you need for emulation. AmigaSYS supports Workbench 3.0, 3.1, and AmigaOS 3.9."

Minimig: Recreation of the Amiga Hardware in FPGA

Submitted by Meng 2007-08-05 Amiga & AROS 32 Comments

"Minimig stands for Mini Amiga. Minimig is an FPGA-based re-implementation of the original Amiga 500 hardware. In it's current form, Minimig is a single PCB measuring only 12*12cm which makes it the smallest 'Amiga' ever made and the first new 'Amiga' in almost 14 years! Minimig is available for download as an open-source/open-hardware design under the GNU public license. This page describes the architecture and the inner working of the Minimig. All design files can be downloaded from the download section."

A History of the Amiga, Part 1: Genesis

Thom Holwerda 2007-08-01 Amiga & AROS 53 Comments

When it first arrived, the Amiga was a dream machine, and some have said it was ten years ahead of its time. The first installment of this multipart history of the Amiga looks at the events that led up to the birth of the company and the PC that bore its name.

AmigaOS 4.0 July 2007 Update Available

Thom Holwerda 2007-07-18 Amiga & AROS 31 Comments

"Hyperion Entertainment VOF is pleased to announce the immediate availability for download for registered customers of another service update of Amiga OS 4.0 which addresses some outstanding issues and introduces substantial new functionality." There's a new kernel, better POSIX support, a new Python port, newer USB stack, and more. By the way, the promised hardware still has not arrived.

New WinAROS Version Released

Submitted by Ola Jensen 2007-06-27 Amiga & AROS 4 Comments

WinAROS, which allows you to easily install a virtual copy of AROS to run inside Windows, has seen a new version. "There is a new version of WinArosLight This time it comes with installation and uninstallation programs. The setup program will create a shortcut on the desktop. It has never been easier to try AROS."

‘Has Any Developer Received the Developer Board from ACK?’

Thom Holwerda 2007-06-03 Amiga & AROS 29 Comments

Not too long ago, we announced that ~~pigs could fly~~ AmigaOS4 had found hardware to run on. In the weeks following the announcement, the specifications of the two different boards (high and low end) were announced, and ACK Controls, the manufacturer, promised to release the first developer boards mid May. It is now June, and there are no developer boards. No photos, nothing. The community also wonders, has any developer received the developer board from ACK? Believers say that the legal troubles in Amiga land are preventing ACK from releasing the boards, but they forget that ACK has actually promised the boards despite the legal troubles. It seems that they can't fly after all. Update: Adam of ACK Controls said in the linked thread on AmigaWorld: "There will only be a total of five developer systems sent to OS4 developers that will be responsible for drivers, HAL ports. When some of the smoke settles, more information will be released."

AmigaOS 4 Mac Mini Port ‘Very Advanced’

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-27 Amiga & AROS 38 Comments

In yet another set of legal documents in the Amiga-Hyperion court case, it is revealed that AmigaOS 4 was ported to run on the Mac Mini (the PowerPC version, obviously), or, at least, that the port was in a very advanced state. The information was found in an email exchange between Bill McEwen of Amiga and Nicola Morocutti of VirtualWorks, about the latter obtaining a license to sell AmigaOS 4 together with the Sam 440ep board as well as, apparently, to sell boxed copies of AmigaOS 4 for the Mac Mini.

AROS Gets a New Name

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-17 Amiga & AROS 20 Comments

The facelift the AROS project had planned is now complete. Most importantly, due to the recent legal troubles concerning Amiga, the project has changed its name from "Amiga Research Operating System" into "AROS Research Operating System". They have also redone their website. There is also development news; the USB UHCI and OHCI support has been completed, and write support for the FAT filesystem has been added, among other things.

Power Design Details From ACK Software Controls, Amiga

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-07 Amiga & AROS 35 Comments

ACK Controls has released the specifications of the upcoming high-end Amiga system. As already known, it will use the P.A. Semi PWRficient PA6T-1682M dual core 64 bit CPUs clocked at 2GHz, the ATX form factor, PCI Express slots, and will have a retail price of USD 1498. The machine will supposedly be available this summer.

High End Amiga System To Use PA Semi Multicore Chips

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-05 Amiga & AROS 46 Comments

ACK has pretty much confirmed that their high-end Amiga system will use PA Semi chips. In an IRC session, Adam of ACK replied to the question how ACK was going to build a system faster than anything Apple ever produced on the PPC side: "Think PA Semi quad-core chips." Adam also said ACK started talks with PA Semi about a year ago, while also promising specifications of the high-end system to be released coming Monday.

ACK: New Amiga Hardware To Arrive Despite Legal Battle

Thom Holwerda 2007-05-03 Amiga & AROS 45 Comments

ACK Controls, the company behind the newly announced Amiga hardware, has held an IRC session where they answered questions and provided more details concerning the upcoming hardware. According to ACK, the promised hardware will arrive with OS4 despite the legal battle going on between Amiga Inc. and Hyperion. On the high-spec machine (USD 1500), they said: "It's faster than anything Apple ever produced on the PowerPC side of things." Which is interesting, to say the least. The transcript containts many more details, and the Amiga community is discussing the matter as well.