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Amiga Update (1995-12-15)
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/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Amiga Update -News and Rumors
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ ||(A Very Ocassional Newsletter)
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ ||
BACK FOR THE FUTURE ||
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technolgies, GmbH
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951215
M O R E " P O W E R A M I G A " N E W S
S H O W N E W S F R O M T O R O N T O
T H E L A T E S T F R O M S A F E H A R B O R
We have a few interesting items to share with you today, one or two of which
should whet your appetite just a bit. I've also included information from
Safe Harbor in this issue (hope they don't mind) and added them to the
subscribers' list. Contrary to what you may have read in a recent newsletter
from a Milwaukee area computer club, Safe Harbor is alive and well, just
located in new quarters. I've had a tour of the new location and it looks
great. They no longer have a storefront, but they DO have a pick up desk
for orders.
I expect an embarassed explanation in the next issue of that newsletter.
Brad
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POWERPC AMIGA ON THE WAY - AMIGA OS TO BE PORTED TO CHRP
(November 15th 1995) The world should see the first
PowerPC-based Amiga by the end of next year or the beginning of
1997, according to Petro Tyschtschenko, President of Amiga
Technologies. But whether the first of the new generation
machines - dubbed Power Amigas - will be straight Common
Hardware Reference Platform clones is still an open question,
as the Escom subsidiary debates the best way to maintain
backwards compatibility with existing applications. An Escom
spokesperson said the company is also in discussion with
Motorola on the practicalities of building a variant of the
PowerPC 604 processor that includes a 68000-family CISC core.
This would ease Amiga's transition to the new RISC
architecture. Whether such a hybrid chip can or will be built
in time to satisfy Amiga Technologies' tight deadlines remains
to be seen, so the company is also pursuing the software
emulation path. The spokesperson acknowledged that Amiga is
talking to Apple about using its 68k emulation technology, but
said that it is also talking to alternative emulator software
providers.
Running existing Amiga applications on a plain CHRP platform
will be tough - the Amiga contains a number of proprietary
support chips that the software expect to be present. In the
first instance, therefore, it seems likely that the Power
Amigas will be a superset of CHRP containing these extra chips.
The first models will also have to incorporate Amiga's
proprietary bus to allow the use of existing peripherals.
However the spokesperson says that the intention is to wheen
application developers away from accessing the hardware
directly; so that newer applications will be hardware
independent.
Tyschtschenko says that his company intends to actively licence
the Amiga OS version 4.1 to other computer companies. The
eventual aim is to have the shrink-wrapped OS available in the
shops for users of CHRP machines to buy. He is clear that the
Amiga's strength is in its software - though asked whether in a
few years time Amiga Technologies will just be a software
house, he answers frankly "I don't know. I don't have a crystal
ball".
The PowerPC is just the first processor that the company
intends to port the OS to, other RISCs will follow and though
the company remains tight lipped about exactly which. Sources
say that the DEC Alpha is on the shopping list. The strategy is
clear, Amiga Technologies believe that what the industry needs
- and in particular what multimedia developers want - is a
skinny, fast, multiprocessing operating system which won't
steal too many of their precious processor cycles. In the age
of OS-bloat it is worth remembering that the Amiga OS can run
in 500K from a floppy drive. Amiga OS is set to get bigger.
Converting it to RISC code, making it hardware independent and
adding much-needed features such as real memory protection and
networking support will cause some expansion. Nonetheless the
company should still have a fast low-overhead system that it
claims will run applications faster than the competition -
important in the Amiga's heartland desktop video market. And
yes Tyschtschenko said that he did have discussions with the
people at Be Inc, but in the end, the need to retain
compatibility with existing applications proved too important.
As for what clinched it for PowerPC, the Amiga spokesperson
said that quite simply that it was the level of support that
Motorola in particular was able to offer the company.
(c) PowerPC News - free by mailing add@power.globalnews.com
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World of Amiga @ Toronto news...
I haven't seen anything about this info, but i might have missed it.
Sorry if this is a rehash of old information.
Petro Tyschtschenko opened the show on friday in Toronto with a very
upbeat presentation. Some info:
- new Amigas as early as february! they will be the update to the
A1200, called the A1200+... They will have a faster processor and the
motherboard will be layed out differently (to enhance performance) And,
the A1200+ will be released in North America!!
- there will be an internet edition of this A1200+, which will include
a PCMCIA modem, a hard drive, and all the software required to get on the
net (including Amiga Tech's new web browser...)
- A4000/060's will be delayed until next year because of a problem
with the chip production from Motorola.
These were the things i found most interesting...
I'm sure a transcript of the entire speech will be posted...
-Jeff Creech //
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\X/ Amiga is back!
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Late Breaking Amiga News from Safe Harbor's Home Page:
Flash....11-29-95..We should have the new 4000T computers in stock in the next
week or so. Preliminary information indicates the 4000Ts will include a 25MHz
68040 CPU, 6MB memory (2MB CHIP, 4MB FAST (expandable to 16MB)), a 1GB SCSI hard
drive, mouse, keyboard, OS 3.0 and manuals. The 4000T also features dual video
slots....
Flash....11-29-95..We expect 1200s in early '96. Despite earlier indications
that the 1200s would not be available in the U.S., our distributor indicates
1200s and 1200HDs will be available to us.
Flash....12-14-95..Our supplier has indicated that the price of the Toaster 4000
will increase by approximately $100 in the next few weeks. If you were holding
off on your purchase, waiting to see the turn of events in the Amiga market,
don't wait too long!
Flash....12-14-95..We received the beta 4.1 Toaster Flyer software from Newtek
yesterday! Features include a new Tools Menu on the Switcher screen (features,
shortcuts and AREXX scripts); auto insertion of audio, video or framestore
elements between existing croutons; change icon for a video clip; user expertise
levels; audio VU meters; realtime audio volume control; audio auto fade; Toaster
Paint Preview of realtime frames; last frame display of outgoing frame on
Preview output; comprehensive hard drive tools to evaluate and format hard
drives. Let's hope that the final release is not too far away!
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ || Brad Webb - available at:
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || webb@malamute.med.ge.com
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || Portal -- XJumpdisk
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