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Amiga Update (1998-11-14)
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter)
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING ||
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Gateway, Inc.
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981114
SPECIAL EDITION!
A M I G A ' S O S P A R T N E R R E V E A L E D !
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
We're very pleased to bring you this special edition of Amiga Update,
in which we present the long awaited news about the Amiga's partner
company for development of the next generation operating system. From
our point of view, this looks like an excellent choice, one which
should make all Amigans very pleased. Check out the details below for
yourself. We think you'll finish with a smile on your face.
The announcement was made Friday night, making Friday the 13th a
lucky day for the Amiga.
Enjoy,
Brad Webb,
Editor
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THE NEW PARTNERSHIP...
At Computer '98, currently being held in Cologne, Germany, Amiga
Incorporated has kept their promise and revealed (November 13) the
company which will be their partner in developing Amiga OS 5.0 for the
next generation machines. That company is the Canadian firm QNX
Software Systems Ltd., makers of the realtime operating system QNX.
What follows is information on QSSL, obtained from their website
(http://www.qnx.com/, and more in depth information direct from
on-line question and answer sessions involving key Amiga Incorporated
personnel in Cologne.
A LOOK AT QSSL
QSSL (QNX Software Systems Ltd.)
Corporate Headquarters
175 Terence Matthews Crescent
Kanata, Ontario
Canada, K2M 1W8
QNX® RTOS
QNX is a realtime, extensible POSIX-certified OS with a lean
microkernel and a team of optional cooperating processes. This
flexible architecture lets you scale QNX down for lean embedded
systems, or scale it out to create a virtual super-computer
orchestrating hundreds of processors.
QNX®/Neutrino®
QNX/Neutrino is a POSIX microkernel that can be scaled to a
standalone system as small as 32K or as large as 4G. A subset of the
modules available for our full OS are now available for QNX/Neutrino -
with more being added every day. Currently QNX/Neutrino is being
designed into deeply embedded applications such as telecom/datacom
devices, industrial controllers, office equipment, and consumer
electronics. We've also recently announced QNX/Neutrino with support
for symmetric multiprocessing. This allows the same code base used in
tiny embedded devices to be easily scaled up to large distributed
networks of SMP clusters.
QSSL COMPANY OVERVIEW
QNX Software Systems Ltd. was founded in 1980 by Gordon Bell and Dan
Dodge to develop, maintain, and market the QNX realtime operating
system. Privately owned and self-financed, our company has been
profitable each and every year. It has also enjoyed exceptional
growth. In fact, over the past decade, we've expanded our corporate
headquarters four times to handle increases in staff and production.
We have over 40 distribution partners that serve almost 100 countries
worldwide. To support our thriving distribution network in the
European Community, we have a division, QNX Europe, located near
London, England. Our corporate headquarters, which houses facilities
for R&D, sales and marketing, and customer training, is located in
"Silicon Valley North" just outside Ottawa, Canada. Business
Philosophy
Our approach to business is based on the firm belief that all
dealings with us should be simple and convenient. For instance, we
make our software modular from a technical as well as a pricing
standpoint so that customers can keep costs to a minimum by ordering
only those modules their target application needs. We strive to make
our service and support the best in the business. We offer a 24-hour
online conferencing and update system, a third-party solutions
directory, and an international technology conference. We deliver
three levels of technical support with varying degrees of phone, fax,
and email support. And finally, we offer hands-on training as well as
consulting services. Product Strategy
ANSWERS FROM AMIGA INCORPORATED ...
{The following sections have been edited from logs of IRC conferences
held at Computer '98 and posted on the User Group Network website
(http://ugn.amiga.org/). We have edited them to save space and correct
typos. Where important for understanding, we have left some questions
in the text. Brad}
FROM JEFF SCHINDLER, AMIGA INC'S GENERAL MANAGER
JSchindl
I want you all to understand that Dr. Allan Havemose is head and VP
of devlopment So Allan will be working with QNX as our next generation
foundation OS we will be building the next Amiga architecture on top
of QNX low level OS
The QNX OS is a microkernel RTOS that is fully protected. It is
network\Internet centric supporing distributed processing. We will be
adding information to our website amiga.com coving the QNX soon.
We have many months of work ahead to add things like a gaming kit,
multimedia, gui, ... to the foundation os ... we are planning a 24bit
true color object oriented architecture ... we have many things
in the definition stage at this point as we work with QNX.
As many are aware we have been looking for a partner for the last 9
months. Dr. Havemose has been evaluating all the os possiblities for
the best technology to fit the next amiga. I have been evaluting the
companies to see if they would make the best working relationship and
business partner. QNX was the winner in our minds by a long long way,
then we had to negotiate how we would best work together. Most of the
QNX engineers are Amiga people and have owned Amigas and many still
use them, so they are very excited for this new opportunity. Both QNX
presidents first home computers were Amigas
We will be building on top of the QNX foundation and QNX is working
on adding many low level features to support our plans for the new
architecture. It will take several months to have the development
platform ready to start programing apps to then months following this
we will release our first version
MARKETING DIRECTOR BILL MCEWEN ON QNX AND THE FUTURE
Last night we announced the OS foundation partner. QNX!
We were able to give breakdown of the OS, and see a demonstration of
its capabilities.
We will be placing the presentation and information on the web site
by the end of the month.
The team for the NGAmiga, will be announced soon, again we are in
final specification stage with our partner, and we need to make sure
that the teams can accomplish their tasks.
We have spent over 18 months on market research, the target market is
still Gaming/Internet. According to IDC this market will see 96%
growth over the next 10 years, while PC growth will stall in the next
two years and decline.
DEVELOPMENT'S DR. ALAN HAVERMOSE SPEAKS
Question: What advantage will QNX give us?
Dr. Havermose:
Several. most importantly it is a fully protected OS with processes
and threads. Also the networking capabilities are very impressive. For
instance, qnx supports transparent networking. where you can move an
applications from one computer to another one without any special
programming. Full support for TCP/IP, with java enabled browser.
Microkenel architecture,where all device drivers run in user space
havemose scalable from 100k rom with no disk to 100s for SMP systems
networked. Powerful ...
The classic OS upgrade is scheduled for release in the first half if
99. We have not given a real schedule for the new Amigas. We will first
create a "development system" this will be followed systems.
My focus right now is on the development system.
{In OS 5.0} Networking is standard. Browser is standard. java is
standard.
Question: how many people will you/amiga inc hire for development ?
Dr. Havermose:
Outside the QNX development group I will probably initially hire
under 20. More later.
Question: Will amiga os 5 have the same structur as older amiga os
version! I mean C: libs: startup-sequnce and so on? and the same
device names and so :)
Dr. Havermose:
We haven't made those decisions yet. QNX's layout is different but
very logical, so it will likely be somewhere in between
We did a quick survey at qnx. More tna 60% of all engineers have or
had amigas! They fully understand what Amiga is, was and what I want
to do ! Very importnat to me.
...
Some confusion here. People often use the words kernel and OS as
synomyms. That is not the case. We will use must of the qnx as our
FOUNDATION. Amiga will add OpenGL, multimedia, user interfaces
configuration and lots of the user experience stuff.
...
Question:
With recent chip anouncments and developments, is the MMC still a
good option? TB GA
Dr Havermose:
Assuming the MMC means the "mystery" chip. Yes, but we have multiple
choice of of chips. havemose QNX works on both intel, PPC, mips, and
several risk processors. So we do not have to make a choice yet and we
havent.
We are working on an "amiga on a PCI card". We plan to use that for
the development system. We are investigating an emulatin option as
well, even though I personally think that the AmigaPCI should havemose
be sufficient.
Question:
Do you intend to use the X Window System, as QNX seems to support it
now?
Dr. Havermose
no.
Question:
What exactly is an "OS partner"? What parts of the QNX OS do you find
interesting? What parts of Classic AmigaOS can we expect to show up in
AOS 5? Eh, ARexx? :)
Dr. Havermose:
qnx will provide kernel, file system, device drivers etc. Amiga will
provide ui, graphics, 3d, multimedia, video etc.
Question:
Realtime OS means that now my multitrack audio/midi project will not
loose sync?!?
Dr. Havermose:
Exactly. We can do a context switch will full context save/restore in
less than 1 micro second. havemose This allows us and you to use the
OS to synchronize video and audio.
Question:
Since the writer of glowicons works for SGI too, does this imply any
further implication between SGI and Amiga?
Dr. Havermose:
no.
Question:
What functionality did you show in your demo last night of QNX-OS?
Dr. Havermose:
We moved an application from one computer to another live. It was
running on PC1 and at the press of a button, it began running on a
second system. We played doom running with 1/2 of doom on one PC and
the other half on the other PC. This was doom on QNX, not Windows.
Showed the multiple languages. Booted the entire OS with internet
support, browser, word processor and an animation off a 1.4 MB floppy.
qnx is mostly in embedded applications. They are in cisco routers,
IBM's pervasive computing initiative, nucelear powerplants, the space
shuttle, etc. Stuff that cannot crash ! Very impressive customer
based.
We will introduce new UI technologies which combined with the new OS
and networking will put the havemose Amiga back in the lead again.
The sysem can boot from a 100k rom without disks. It can boot using a
bootrom plus a HD, every config is posisble. Graphics memory has no
limitations,other than to do 1208x1024 in 24bits with double buffering
you will need 4 to 8 MB.
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Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at:
Australian Mirror Site: http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.html
All back issues available (in ASCII text) at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU/index.html
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Copyright 1998 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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