Amiga
SvenHarveyhas
beenourAmiga
specialistforover
16years,drawingon
his25yearsretailing
computerandvideo
gamesandevenlonger
writingaboutthemAmiga In 2016
And Beyond
H
opefullyby thetimethat
you're readingthisor
veryshortlyafterwards,
A-EonTechnologyand
AmigaKitwillbe takingpre-
ordersfor theAmigaOneX5000
machinewithits QorIQP5020
dual-core 64-bitprocessor. The
machineis expectedto cost
somethingin theregionof
£1,500-2,000.Laterversionswill
be availablewiththequad-core
64-bitP5040processor.
TheAmigaOS is stillin the
processof fullyrealising64-bit
supportandtheforthcoming,but
as yet undated,AmigaOS4.2will
includemulti-core supportas the
operatingsystemmovestowards
its 64-bitfuture, whichoriginally
on HyperionEntertainment's
roadmapled to hardware
agnosticism.
Whatthatessentiallymeans
is thattheAmigaOScould
eventuallybe portedto other
64-bitarchitectures.
Alsothisyearshouldseethe
releaseof A-EonTechnology's
low-endAmigaOne,developed
in partnershipwithACubeof
Italy. TheAmigaOneA1222and
its motherboard codenamed
'Tabor'features anotherQorIQ
processor– the32-bitP1022
dual-core SoC(systemon a
chip).However, this'entry-level'
systemis highlyunlikelyto have
a pricesouthof £500.
Comparingthiswiththeold
dayswhentheAmiga 500 or
Amiga 1200 were on saleat
£399.99,let alonetoday'sPClaptopmarketwhere a multi-core
machinewith8-16GBof RAM
anda 1TBhard diskcancostyou
lessthan£350,it's notexactly
hugelyattractive.
Clearlyit's aimedsquarely at
computerhobbyists,butrecent
releasesfromtheRaspberry
Pi foundation– especiallyits
smallesteverunit,theRaspberry
Pi Zero putsthatwellandtrulyin
perspective.
Forthosewhoare unaware,
theRaspberryPi Zero
motherboard is smallerthana
creditcard andfeatures a 1GHz
32-bitprocessor(ARMcore)
and512MBof RAM– making
it arguablemore powerfulthan
theAmigaOneXE I runAmigaOS
4.1FinalEditionon.Okayit's
justa board andhasverylittle
connectivity, havingjusta micro-
USBportfor power, anotherto
allowa hubto be addedanda
micro-HDMIportfor audiovisual
connection– butit retailsfor £4
plusVAT!
TheofficialAmigaOS,at
least,appearsto be locked
to thePowerPCarchitecture,
whichunfortunatelyseems
verymuchlikea deadend
withdevelopmentbeingslow,
andnaturallyaimedsquarely
at theembeddedmarket,as
that'swhere thetechnology's
maincustomerbaseis. Okay,
PPCAmigaemulationis now
happening,butit's hardly the
same,andemulatinga PowerPC
chipisn'texactlyprocessorlight
on x64PCs.SvenHarveylookstothefuture
HopefullytheAmigaOSisn't
a hugeamountof timeaway
fromtheeventual64-bitnirvana
of beingportableto other
architectures. Don'tgetme
wrongeither– Intelandx86/x64
chipsare notwhatI amthinking
is where theOS shouldhead.
ARMmadetheRaspberryPi
possibleandnowhasAMRv8.1
64-bitprocessorswhichshould,
all beingwell,endup being
producedin suchquantitiesthat
low-cost64-bitboards could
startto exist.Indeed,Broadcom,
whoseprocessorspower
RaspberryPi boards, hasthe
VulcanARM64-bitSoC.
To chasedowna new
generationof theAmigamachine
thatpeoplereallyheldclose
to theirhearts– theA500and
A1200– a targetpriceof no
more than£199.99needsto be
heldin mindas theAmigaOS
is portedto other64-bit
architectures.
In my humbleopinion,
technologicalissues
notwithstanding,64-bitARM
needsto be thewayto untiethe
AmigaOSfromthemillstonethat
PowerPChasbecome(andx64
wouldsoonalsobe),andallow
a newgenerationof hobby
computerusersto be truly
creativeagain,in thesameway
theAmiga 500 or 1200andthe
DeluxePaintthatcamein the
boxdidin theearly1990s.
A Pi-a-likeboard usinga 64-bit
ARM-basedSoCcouldbe just
whattheAmigaOSneeds.Wasn't
it someoneat Commodore who
saidcomputersfor themasses
andnotfor theclasses?gThe RaspberryPi Zeroand the
64-bitARMCortexA72 processor- a futurematchmadein heaven
and potentialtargethardwarefor
AmigaOS4.5?