AmiKit 1.3.0 has been released. “We are very proud to announce the AmiKit now supports modern icon formats. This is the first time the OS3.x based environment is able to show and use PNG, dual PNG and OS4 icons. Moreover, Directory Opus Magellan II (included in AmiKit) is able to use them too.” Indulge yourself in the screenshots, boys and girls.
It’s sad how much work is left in Linux and all other OS until they actually work as great as AmigaOS did, and that AmigaOS is the dead one
No package/dependenciy worries, no troubles with installers, library versions, uninstallers, DOpus still beats any other file manager out there, datatypes still rules.
Comparing AmigaOS to Linux is not a completely fair comparison. AmigaOS was [presumably] developed as a whole guided by a plan.
Linux as it is commonly known is distributed by vendors, such as Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, Novell, et al. These vendors essentially are packaging up the work of thousands of different projects into a plan/vision. Getting the main ones to work well together is no small feat.
The packaging system is arguably a necessary thing for current GNU/Linux systems. It tries to solve the problem of installation, dependencies, library versions .
To compare Linux and AmigaOS, is like comparing an Apple to an Orange.They both taste nice, but are grown in completely different environments.
I agree. Comparing Windows and Linux isn’t a completely fair comparison either, yet we do it here almost daily.
A Mac. Everything that Amiga ever wanted to be, the Mac is now with OS X.
Dude, get a Mac.
Actually OS X is nowhere being what the Amiga wanted to be.
Back in 1985 the Amiga was what the Mac wanted to be, and this is still true.
The only problem AmigaOS has is the missing hardware
But take a look at OS capabilities and system requirements and OS X loses big time.
To be honest, I really do wish there were other decent and usable desktop OSes with software, other than Windows, Linux and OSX. The AmigaOS does seem interesting.
The Amiga was the better Mac always, but it had a lousy management.
Some might say the Amiga still has a lousy management
(if it has any management).
Still? The Amiga is dead, it died with Commodore.
Actually not. It was sold and sold and sold and sold, and is still alive.
AmigaOS 4 exists though the lack of hardware is a problem. You can of course deny reality, but that doesn’t make your statement true. Just ignorant.
Actually not. It was sold and sold and sold and sold, and is still alive.
I think that depends on your definition of alive. The current Amiga IP owners were funded as a mobile-devices software company. AmigaOS for the desktop was first pronounced dead by them and the as an afterthought contracted to Hyperion Entertainment for development. Now apparently the lawyers of Hyperion and Amiga, Inc. are trying to sort out which them owns what part of the OS (or if either of them do, as Hyperion’s subcontractors apparently own their respective contributions.
AmigaOS 4 exists though the lack of hardware is a problem.
Compounding the lack of hardware is the larger problem that Amiga, Inc. doesn’t seem to want to negotiate any new hardware deals. People have reported their inability to get any response from the company. Genesi, maybe the only company making suitable PPC motherboards these days, is apparently being rebuffed because Amiga, Inc. managers are apparently still in a huff about the earlier suit that Genesi filed and won to have them comply with their AmigaDE contract. Other PPC board prospects are also problematic for either technical or business reasons or both. This is the actual reality for the new-generation AmigaOS, which seems to suggest that alternatives such as AmiKit are the best people can do for now.
clearly how much Amiga is lagging behind the times.
I was surprised when I read that they still don’t have a FireFox port.
This is not the Amiga. This is the AmiKit. AmigsOS4, MorphOS and AROS have full support for PNG. This article is about a piece for software primarily for AmigaOS 3.x.
Firefox isn’t particularly wanted on the Amiga-platforms. They have their own projects and POSIX-applications are not particularly wanted, because they are un-Amigan.
SkyOS have a Firefox port but is nowhere near as stable as MorphOS or AmigaOS. There is btw. a browser for AmigaOS and MorphOS based on KHTML. Is that good enough for you?
@dylansmrjones
This is not the Amiga. This is the AmiKit. AmigsOS4, MorphOS and AROS have full support for PNG. This article is about a piece for software primarily for AmigaOS 3.x.
Running inside an emulator. Many Amigans develop applications under emulators. FireFox under AmiKit is possible.
Firefox isn’t particularly wanted on the Amiga-platforms. They have their own projects and POSIX-applications are not particularly wanted, because they are un-Amigan.
The AmiZilla has a bounty at 10K$ for FireFox. We can safely deduce that Amigans want a more modern browser.
There is btw. a browser for AmigaOS and MorphOS based on KHTML. Is that good enough for you?
Yes but it’s nowhere near complete.
Yes but it’s nowhere near complete.
Correct, but this could also be said about other KHTML-browsers on other platforms. And about some Firefox-ports for some platforms.
The installer framework for Windows is also rather incomplete, and dysfunctional, but that doesn’t render Windows useless. RPM used on Linux has severe issues, but it still doesn’t render the OS inferior or useless.
In the same way the lack of Firefox or an incomplete port of KHTML does not render AmigaOS / MorphOS useless. It does require some workarounds by the user, but that’s true for all Operating Systems.
There’s a big bounty for Firefox, but it hasn’t grown for a long time, and most people are looking at other engines than Gecko. I’ve got greater faith in the KHTML for Amiga. But yes, the users want a more modern browser. We can safely deduce that. But it doesn’t equal a wish for an un-amigan browser
The installer framework for Windows is also rather incomplete, and dysfunctional, but that doesn’t render Windows useless. RPM used on Linux has severe issues, but it still doesn’t render the OS inferior or useless.
The installer framework for Windows and RPM are working as intended. The KHTML browser is still in BETA and new features are to be added.
In the same way the lack of Firefox or an incomplete port of KHTML does not render AmigaOS / MorphOS useless. It does require some workarounds by the user, but that’s true for all Operating Systems.
Then there’s no need to port a modern browser.
There’s a big bounty for Firefox, but it hasn’t grown for a long time, and most people are looking at other engines than Gecko. I’ve got greater faith in the KHTML for Amiga. But yes, the users want a more modern browser. We can safely deduce that. But it doesn’t equal a wish for an un-amigan browser
How can you come to that conclusion? What’s a un-amigan browser?
By “Un-amigan” I think he is refering to the fact that Firefox was not created on an Amiga, and will just be a port.
The simple fact is that Firefox is a great browser on any platform and is seen by many as an essential peice of kit for any OS, so a proper port would be welcomed by many in the community.
I haven’t coded on AmigaOS for years, but I still remember enough to know that any attempt would require a lot of work so best of luck to anyone who tried.
Un-amigan software is – as far as I can understand – software that comes from another platform and uses mechanisms that are foreign to Amiga. It has something to do with how the applications work, low-level as well as high-level functionality.
Some coders in the Amiga world suggested using BSD-code for TCP/IP but was voted down because the code does things in a very un-amigan way.
You’ll have to ask the devs what it means in a specific situation. I’m just relaying the message.
Correct, but this could also be said about other KHTML-browsers on other platforms. And about some Firefox-ports for some platforms.
The AmigaOS4 port of Sputnik, the KHMTL-based browser being written first for MorphOS, hasn’t even been started yet, so I think “nowhere near complete” if anything is being very generous. 😉 Comparisons to programs that are in use but aren’t fully functional or whatever are absurd.
In the same way the lack of Firefox or an incomplete port of KHTML does not render AmigaOS / MorphOS useless. It does require some workarounds by the user….
Of course they aren’t useless, but the lack of a modern browser is a severe deficiency that pretty much all users put a browser at the top of their lists of most-wanted software. The “workarounds” include booting another OS/browser to do online transactions and other web things, which I think stretches the concept of workarounds within an operating system.
There’s a big bounty for Firefox, but it hasn’t grown for a long time
I don’t think that’s a negative vote for Firefox per se so much as 1) there’s so little progress in the project that people tend to think it isn’t ever going to happen, 2) the AmigaOS4 user base is stuck around 1000 and so contributions to bounties are naturally going to hit a limit.
But it doesn’t equal a wish for an un-amigan browser
As if end users really care what the underlying code looks like, especially in 2007 when there are so few active Amiga developers remaining that software from any source is a welcome treat.
I downloaded it and tried installing it using my Amiga Forever 2005 CD but the installer freezes at random.
I did manage to get it running, once, but again it froze just to show me a great looking desktop that I couldn’t use.
It could be the case that because I’m running in Vista that it ain’t to happy but I did try running the installer and WinUAE in XP compatibility mode with the same results.
Think I’ll drop the author a line. In the mean time, will keep trying.
I finally found the problem. The WinUAE version shipped with AmiKit is V1.3.2 which has major issues with Vista. If you download the 1.3.4 zip file, which is much more Vista compatible, and unpack it into the AmiKit installation directory the freeze issues stop.
Great system and looks really great. Gonna play with it some more. 😉
That has to be the best-looking desktop ever created for a 68k-based system. I wonder how it runs on a real 68060-upgraded Amiga versus WinUAE/eUAE running on a 3 GHz CPU…
Running most of the stuff from AmiKit here on some of my Amiga’s which has ‘040 and ‘060 CPU’s with PPC co-processors and it works great..mostly thanks to the AfA OS addon which are ported stuff from AROS
>That has to be the best-looking desktop ever created >for a 68k-based system. I wonder how it runs on a real >68060-upgraded Amiga versus WinUAE/eUAE running on a 3 >GHz CPU…
Plain, simple: a lot faster on the 3Ghz CPU than on the 060 Amiga…
@Thom Holwerda
Thanks for spreading the news! It’s greatly appreciated.
I really miss it.
It is quite incredible what we already had access to, with the Amiga still in the 80’s.
But truth be told its time is long gone. And now we have to deal with PCs and Macs.
Maybe Macs are the best way to keep the Amiga soul alive.
Oh boy, I sure miss it.