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"*Which* mass market" is a relevant question. MorphOS lacks things like multi user support, which limits its chances in products that needs secure handling on user identity and file ownership/protection in file systems, for instance a traditional desktop market. On the other hand, the LimePC isn't exactly desktop hardware either. It's a one device, one user deal. Pretty much like ipod's (and other media players) and PDA's. And speaking of ipods, that's exactly what I see when looking at the "PalmPC":

limepc_m1.jpg

And PDA is the little bigger "HandheldPC". And then we have the UMPC with HDD and all. So the most obvious areas of use is of course the traditional areas of use for these types of devices; to play music, play videos, personal organizer, web surfing, email, gaming, etc.

And streaming media of course. Have you looked at ORB? That's a *great* thing! Always access to your media files wherever you are. You store a movie on your home PC (or on your Genesi 8610-based media center of course ) and you can watch the same movie on your cell phone, your PDA, your NG games console, or on a media center *at your friends* home! Heck, install a TV-card in your PC and you can watch this from everywhere as well! Buy a pay-per-view sports event and share it among your friends, who can watch it in their living room, their PDA's or cell phones while commuting from work, or whatever. ORB is a great thing, and works perfectly!

Now when MorphOS is about to reach a level which is "more complete" as an OS (in a sense, MorphOS 2.0 is IMHO what an 1.0 release could have been), maybe the next phase is to start thinking about what the OS could be used for? A commercial purpose? And steer development accordingly?

I look at MorphOS as a potential "Media OS". It's extremely lean and has low overhead which makes it ideal for these kind of devices. But it also lacks a lot of things to be suitable for these kind of devices listed above.

You seem to be involved with new force in the LimePC deal (I guess this is why you hardly ever are to bee seen online during the last few months, other than short blog posts to show that you are still breathing ). I don't know to what degree these assumptions are true and correct, but for the sake of the discussion in this thread (to know something about the preconditions), you sound like you are about to have some serious cash stream coming in again - does this mean that you are prepared to support MorphOS development *financially* again, in a *serious* way (unlike chipping up a little something for a bounty here and there) that includes hiring people, paying contractors, purchasing licenses, etc? Is that it?

If so, to answer your initial question "how we might best restore Amiga-like OS environments to the mass market", I'd say you'd better start fill in the gaps! Here are *some*, quite basic ones:

The OS must of course have a full blown Bluetooth implementation. As well as WiFi (with "WiFi catcher tools" and all). This involves some licensing I suppose.

The GUI (MUI, applications, and perhaps Ambient, if that is even needed or wanted at all on these kind of devices) should be flexible and scalable between various low resolution screen modes up to full desktop size. It would be cool if one and the same MorphOS application could be run on normal desktop size screens, but also "auto sense" and adapt to a 5.61" (1024x600) screen of the UMPC, a 4.0" (272x480) screen of the HandheldPC, and a 2.86" (240x400) screen of the PalmPC, and still have a fully readable and usable GUI. This will require more than simply changing the resolution, it will require adaption, with different layout of the GUI objects according to the screen profiles, and contents presented in different ways accordingly. I think this should involve a development of some official GUI policy/guide from the MorphOS team.

The GUI must support touch screen. Could perhaps be achieved via mouse simulation. Perhaps some intelligent "proximity" function is needed on top of this; unlike when using a mouse on a desktop system, where you easily can click on any object and accurately hit it down to a pixel level, this is not the case when using some "pen" to poke on a 2.86" screen while sitting on a bus on a bumpy road. This may also affect the layout of GUI objects, and be considered in the GUI layout policy/guide.

The GUI should include a standard functionality for entering text by other means than a keyboard, like opening up an on-screen keyboard with keys you can press on from the touch screen, or a handwriting translation tool that we see on several PDA's. This can probably be licensed quick and easy. Devices like this is of course optional, and supported by the full-blown Bluetooth implementation.

Reggae is a great thing. But it will need codecs, lot's of them. Some of them will involve some licensing I suppose.

Web browser is important. Sputnik looks promising. But if you are truly involved in a "millions of units" LimePC deal, you probably have enough money to license the Opera browser. It's very portable, it's developed with these kind of devices in mind, and has a very nice zoom function that can be usable here.

Java and Flash/Shockwave are essential in Internet (or "mobile gaming") contexts. Previously tightly closed, but both seems to be opened up a great deal recently. Maybe they still need to be licensed though, and under any circumstances you should sponsor the porting work financially so to make it finalized during our lifetime.

That was some *basics* from the top of my head, I'm sure there are a lot more than this needed to be added to the OS. And when the basics is in place there will of course be a need for the relevant applications. Some are here already, some needs adaption, some needs development. Third party developers can contribute here, and probably will if the OS are running on tangible devices, the "basics" is in place, and a true commercial future on a mass market *is truly within sight*.