From: pdb059@ipl.jpl.nasa.gov (Paul Bartholomew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Considering switching to IBM
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:23:57 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Image Processing Lab

In article <mykes.2917@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG>, mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) writes:
> 
> As to getting a 486 or the A3000...   You really have to look at what you
> are getting.  In the case of the A3000, your machine will be useful to you
> for years.  In the case of the 486, it will be obsolete as soon as the 586
> comes out.  Sorry, OS/2 v3 doesn't work on anything less than the 586.  Sorry,
> windows NT doesn't work on anything less than the 586.  Then you end up spending
> more for your Intel stuff than for your Amiga.

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this.

1.  The whole point of the new operating systems being designed by Apple,
IBM, and Microsoft is that they are designed to be relatively platform-
independent.  Thus, for the preliminary releases at any rate, these new
systems will run on the 486 or the 586.  In fact, Windows NT is being
designed with a 486 system specifically in mind.

2.  Given the speed of the 486 and the current suite of applications available
for it, I suspect that the useful lifetime of that computer will be as many
years, if not more, than the A3000.

3.  Rumor has it that Commodore will be announcing a new set of machines
sometime this year.  Are these machines necessarily going to be compatible
with the A3000?  What about a new set of custom chips?  Is AmigaDos ever
going to be updated?  Will it ever require the power or new features of a
newer machine?

4.  There will definitely come a time when the 486 is, if not obsolete, at
least no longer being sold by the front-line manufacturers.  Does that make
it useless?

5.  I currently use a 12-Mhz 80286 clone computer which I bought five years
ago.  By today's standards, this machine is verging on the obsolete.  Yet, I
have no immediate plans to sell it and I still use it as much as ever.  In
fact, I'm more productive on it now than I was when I first bought it.  The
only thing I cannot currently run is OS/2 v2.0.  In addition, I cannot run
Windows in multi-tasking mode and I cannot use any advanced memory management
software.  Is this sufficient reason to junk the computer?

6.  In the IBM world, just as in the Amiga world, it is possible to incre-
mentally upgrade your computer.  Since I bought the computer, I've added
super-VGA graphics, the Sound-Blaster Pro, 3 additional MBytes of memory,
and 80 additional MBytes of disk space.  Each of these upgrades has helped
maintain the usefulness of my original, now-outdated, system.  These same
factors will help keep both the A3000 and the 486 active and useful years
after the release of the 586, 686, ....

By the way, just in case you think this proves your point that you spend more
money in the IBM world, let's think about each of these in regards to an
A500 or some such machine.  Would I have bought additional memory or addi-
tional disk space?  You're damned right I would.  Would I have bought a
graphics upgrade if an inexpensive one had been available for the A500?
Yes.  Would I have bought a sound card?  Nope.  Do I currently *need* a
sound card on my IBM?  Nope.

In short, your claim that the Amiga has a longer useful life is simply not
true.  In fact, if I had to place a bet now on the useful life of the 486
vs. the A3000, I'd bet on the 486 for the simple reason that the A3000 is
long overdue for an overhaul.  My personal opinion is that Commodore cannot
do this overhaul without losing some compatibility with the A3000.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Bartholomew          |   "The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of
                          |    many things..."                  Lewis Carroll
pdb059@mipl3.jpl.nasa.gov |   Disclaimer:  Opinions?  What opinions?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------