From: rhealey@kas.helios.mn.org (Rob Healey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: New Amiga(s) Expansion/Future
Date: 12 Oct 92 16:40:45 GMT
Organization: Rob's home system, Hopkins, MN

In article <67346@cup.portal.com> Christopher_Thomas_Winward@cup.portal.com writes:
=   4: Producing two completely different standards for 'high-end'
=      machines vs. 'low-end'.
=
=   There is no AA chipset in the A600.  There is no 68030 in the A600.
=   There is no way to upgrade any chips other than the processor in
=   ANY of the new surface mount Amigas other than a motherboard swap.
=
=Who in their right mind would ever dare to develop specifically for the
=A4000 and AA chipset when it only comes on one or two of the most
=expensive machines?  No real applications will become available to make
=use of the new chips unless they become standard.  How does Commodore
=figure that making their own machines non-standard in their own product
=line will help them?  The A600 is the machine that will define what types
=of programs will be written for the Amiga line.  Using old, dead processors
=like the original MC68000 along with the ancient 16-bit chipset is not
=going to do anything to advance their state-of-the-art machines.
=

	It has puzzled me for MANY years why Amiga users just don't get
	the idea of what an OS and programming API's are REALLY for.

	IF Amiga developers USE the tools given to them from C=, i.e.
	ADOS 3.0 and above, they CAN make their applications run on
	anything from a 68000-68060. ADOS doesn't currently use the
	MMU so that is moot. The 600 has the VERY important feature that
	it comes in a stock model WITH A HARDDRIVE.

	ADOS 3.0 and beyond have POWERFUL programming interfaces and a
	means for a program to know what resolutions and modes it
	can and cannot use. Programmers who USE the API's and OS functions
	given to them by C= can program for a wide array of Amiga's.
	
	Why the hell do you think all those C= OS guys bust their respective
	asses making the OS as small, fast and useful as possible? Why
	do you think CATS has busted it's ass providing developers with
	docs and tools to make good use of the features that the OS writers
	have given us? Hell, CATS has GIVEN AWAY on Fish disks what most
	companys would charge money for.

	I'm GLAD C= is introducing hardware level incompatabilitys! FINALLY,
	just MAYBE, Amiga programmers will wise up like programmers in
	Mainframe and UNIX have had to for years and USE THE OS to
	provide services across differing machines.

	Amiga users complain because the hardware registers aren't
	documented, except for gamesters WHO THE HELL CARES? The 3.0
	OS provides all you need and a means to work across a wide
	array of systems. Even 2.0x provides a means although it doesn't
	have the hardware database functions of 3.0.

	I can take a C program under AmigaUNIX, move it over to a Cray
	and it works, even something as complex as an X application. There
	is something to be said for using an OS and it's API's to avoid
	architecture change problems. Last I checked an Amiga and a Cray
	were quite different in details but both have common X and UNIX
	interfaces.

	Come on people, get with the program and USE the OS API's C=
	engineers have busted their asses to provide you with. They did
	it to help you out!

		-Rob
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware