PIC:barclip.ilbm

CL8:                       The Future Is Now, Or Is It?
PIC:barclip.ilbm

CL8:                         Written by Zerox of Gods

CL1:It's  a year ago that it got announced
by  Amiga  Inc., that the AmigaOne was
ready and that the dealers could order
the developerboards for testing.  They
could  soon  start ordering the boards
for  sale  as  the  production  was in
progress.

Finally  after  all  these  years,  it
really seemed like the Amiga users and
sceners would be able to buy new Amiga
hardware,   in  addition  to  the  new
software (Amiga OS).







The  Amiga One which is supposed to be
the next generation Amiga, with highly
improved  processor  power,  sound and
graphics  abilities, will certainly be
a  long awaited upgrade.  But what has
really happened during the last year?

First of all, the 1st of November last
year  Eyetech  finally  announced that
the  AmigaOne  was ready for sale (but
without  the  AmigaOS4.0).   Both  the
600MHz G3-based AmigaOneG3-SE, and the
800MHz G4-based AmigaOne-XE, was ready
to  be ordered, starting at the WoA-SE
show   on   2nd  November  2002.   The
AmigaOne's  were  ready  for  delivery
before Christmas 2002 it was said.  If
anyone actually have got their ordered
Amigas is unknown to me at the present
time.  At least a few people that have
ordered  it  haven't gotten it yet!  A
700MHz  G3  (750FX cpu) version of the
AmigaOne-XE  was  supposed  to be made
available early this year also.










PIC:6.iff


















The setup was like this:

Item            AmigaOneG3-SE       AmigaOne-XE (G3)    AmigaOne-XE (G4)

CPU             750CXe              750FX               7451 
CPUspeed        600MHz              700MHz              800MHz 
CPU upgradable  No                  Yes                 Yes 
CPU socket      No                  Yes                 Yes 
Max memory      2GB                 2GB                 2GB 
Memory type     DIMM Registered 133 DIMM Registered 133 DIMM Registered 133 
Northbridge     Articia S with fix  Articia S with fix  Articia S with fix 
Southbridge     VIA 82C686B         VIA 82C686B         VIA 82C686B 
PCI 33MHz       3 Slots             3 Slots             3 Slots 
PCI 66MHz       1 Slot              1 Slot              1 Slot 
AGP speed       2x                  2x                  2x 
Ethernet chip   3COM 920C           3COM 920C           3COM 920C 
USB ports       2 back plate+2head. 2 back plate+2head. 2 back plate+2head. 
PS2 ports       Keyboard + mouse    Keyboard + mouse    Keyboard + mouse 
Serial ports    2 x 16650 equival.  2 x 16650 equival.  2 x 16650 equival. 





















Parallel port   CL7: gr1 x EPP/ECP         1 x EPP/ECP         1 x EPP/ECP 
CL1: grIRDA port       On header           On header           On header 
Firmware        PPCBoot + OS4 enab. PPCBoot+OS4 enabler PPCBoot+OS4 enabler 
O/S capability  LinuxPPC + OS4      LinuxPPC + OS4      LinuxPPC + OS4 

The  20th  of  November  the last real
newsbulletin   from  Eyetech  arrived.
They were telling us that the AmigaOne
now  was  shipping and that AmigaOS4.0
was in its final stages of development
and testing, that the time had come to
begin  letting  the  rest of the world
know  the good news, that the Amiga is
alive, well and ready to let the world
have  fun  with computing again.  They
wrote:   "Have  no  doubt that after 8
years  of  darkness,  2003 will be the
year  that  the Amiga once again makes
the  World  remember  that  there is a
better way.".





In  any  case,  let's  assume that the
hardware    from   Eyetech   is   100%
finished,  what  are  we  then waiting
for?   Yes, the essential part...  the
real   difference  between  Amiga  and
other  systems,  the software.  We are
still waiting for OS4.0.

Hyperion  is  the  developer  of Amiga
OS4.0,  and the 6th of March the Amiga
team   announced:   "Late  last  year,
Amiga   announced   its  intention  to
launch AmigaOS4.0 at the CeBIT show in
Germany.   Since then, the project has
advanced  into  its  final  stages but
unfortunately  not  to the point where
we  are  ready  to ship.  We have thus
decided   not   to  attend  the  Cebit
Germany  show.  Instead we are looking
at  other  shows  and opportunities in
the  near future to provide a suitable
platform  for  the  launch  of the new
Amiga.  We apologize to the commmunity
for  waiting  until  the last possible
moment  to  make this announcement but
despite    heroic   efforts   by   all
concerned, even up to the last minute,
circumstances  have  conspired to push
completion  beyond  the  deadline.  We
have  regretfully  decided that making
CeBIT  Germany  the  AmigaOS  4 launch
platform  is not a realistic option at
present.     AmigaOS4.0   is   coming.
Beta-testing  has  been going on since
last   September,   the   Club   Amiga
Magazine is previewing many of the new
features  and  AmigaOne integration is
proceeding  well.  Amiga, Hyperion and
Eyetech  are 100% committed to getting
the  new  platform  out into the world
and  reintroducing  the  world  to the
pleasures of home computing.".

Hyperion  themselves announced the 7th
of  March:   "Hyperion  is  pleased to
announce  that  it  has  completed  an
extensive   rework   of  the  AmigaOne
firmware       adding      substantial
functionality   and   flexibility  for
end-users,        developers       and
technicians.".

These newly implemented functionality includes:

a.. Migration from PPCBoot 1.16 to U-Boot (PPCBoot 2.0) 
b.. Support for PPC 750 FX, MPC 7440/41, MPC 7450/1 CPUs 
c.. Comprehensive GUI for Articia S register configuration 
d.. Comprehensive GUI for general firmware configuration 
e.. Support of additional types of memory modules 
f.. Integration of diagnostic code 
g.. Support  for  POST  card  displays  allowing  for  rapid detection of
    specific hardware faults
h.. New  Articia  S  start-up  code  allowing  for  usage of two banks of
    unregistered SDRAM
i.. Booting from Symbios/LSI Logic 53c8xx based SCSI controllers 
      
The  new firmware will be incorporated
in  the  A1-XE  boards  which  will be
shipping shortly.

From  Amiga  Inc.,  it  has been very,
very  silent the last half year or so.
But  the  11th of April Amiga released
an  article  describing the AmiDock in
OS4.0.   The day after Amiga announced











that   2  games  packs  have  hit  the
shelves at CompUSA.

And   this  is  the  latest  news  the
Eurochart  staff can bring you here at
the  Breakpoint  party.   We  are just
hoping  that  AmigaOne with OS4.0 will
be available in the shops very soon.

With  the  new Amiga OS, it's possible
to  make  programs  that  will  run on
various  machines  and configurations.
So  there's always the chance that the
scene will grow in size.  Instead of a
divided  amiga  scene,  we  may  get a
joint computer scene.

That would be nice, as the amiga scene
has become incredible small the latest
years.   However, with various systems
as  AmigaOne  and  Pegasos  there's  a
chance for a divide within the divide.
Hopefully  the  scene  will  be  joint
though.   But  a  joint  scene  is not
without  problems  as  the productions
will    be   run   on   so   different
configurations.    Just   imagine  the
speed  and  timing  problems that will
arrive   there.    And   perhaps   the
competitions  at  the various parties,
such as the one here at the Breakpoint
party, will be even more unfair in the
future.

Nevertheless,  the big question should
be,  if  AmigaOne  with Amiga OS4.0 is
soon  ready  for  us  all,  should  we
really buy it?  Should we all upgrade,
or  should  we  divide;  with  an even
smaller classic scene than today and a
growing PPC scene?

I  guess most sceners will wait a bit,
look at others who bought AmigaOne and
see   what   happens   in  the  scene.
Anyway,  we  have  all  waited for new
hardware  for  so long, and the future
really  seems  to  be  in front of our
feet  this  year,  should  we all just
cease  the  day?   Shouldn't we really
take  this  opportunity  we've finally
gotten  and  buy  this  new machine to
develop our scene even further?

I  really  don't  know  anymore.   But
being  here  at  the  Breakpoint party
makes  me believe that there's still a
very   active   scene  with  a  bright
future.   There's  nothing stopping us
from  creating  a great Amiga scene in
the  future either if we want to.  The
choice  is  yours, as the Amiga future
is now!










PIC:EcLogoFish.iff
