Hi community!

I'm a new user of MorphOS in research of the level to which old hardware can still be relevant in the modern world.

I've been browsing around this forum for a few weeks now, and am looking for something a little more scientific as to what the community use MorphOS for...

... I've started a post on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/radclyffe_many-peoples-first-computer-was-an-amiga-activity-6966005270338539520-onlo?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) but please feel free to respond here - I'm interested to understand whether it's the large software base going back to the 1980s that is the greatest draw, nostalgia for old games, visual arts software, productivity software, or something else entirely?

I'm also particularly interested in case anyone has any highly unusual uses for MorphOS that you'd be willing for me to write about? Is there, for instance, something that the Amiga platform is particularly well suited for - even today?

Many thanks in advance - am excited to learn where the consensus lies and what surprises you might have for me!

Internet security for example since we are a small community, hackers do not look at MorphOS.
Play games too.
And we recycle old mac machines and we give them a second life.

Hi Charles

I posted the below on your linkedin post;

"To me Morphos is a continuation of the brilliant light weight responsive operating system which was AmigaOS. Back in the 90s AmigaOS ran rings around Windows (even Windows 95) with much better multitasking and had a logic to it that really made sense. It booted in seconds and could be used immediately in a lot less memory. Morphos continues this. I use it because I prefer it to Windows. In reality it’s my weekend OS when Windows 10 is my weekday OS, although I’d love it if it could be used 7 days a week."

But what I would add to that is that I mainly use MorphOS now to get away from my work desktop and use an operating system I actually like and understand better, that in my mind is more obvious as well in how it is structured and operates. Therefore I use it mainly for web-browsing, YouTube and also for playing retro games but only those I kind of missed first time around post the year 2000, such as Quake 3, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, along with some of the MorphOS specific games like Knights & Merchants. WINUAE is there if I want to go back and be nostalgic about the 90s.

Like I said at the start, I really consider MorphOS to be a continuation of where the Amiga had got to by the year 2000, when I was forced to originally give it up as I went into the working world.

great answers - thank you.

I wasn't a first time round Amiga-user, but coveted the CDTV which I'm now happy to own. My (limited) experience of MorphOS the last few weeks concurs with your feedback. I'm also really interested in the angle of keeping old Macs alive - it seems quite breathtaking to me that this community can do something which Apple should (and could) easily to - namely a modern browser to keep in service for longer their old hardware...

... their business model isn't sadly compatible with this idea though...

... on cyber-risks - I could imagine there are lots of reasons why MorphOS might be more secure than MacOS or Windows - not least of which is that it doesn't get the attention from hackers. I presume that there is a tight process of how vulnerabilities are identified and closed off? Am curious though - is there any particular strength in design features in this regard? It strikes me that hackers are increasingly being blamed for e-waste, which is rather unfair... those with these skills that I know are perhaps the most ecologically conscious people in my network! They would be mortified if they are being blamed for tonnes of e-waste...

nonetheless, I digress - thanks for the comments, and look forward to hopefully some more to come!

Well I'm running a business on MorphOS. Works perfect for my needs.

I use PolyOrganizer, Iris, Scatterbrain, Outline, FinalWriter, Wayfarer (with the PDF creation add on), and all the built in OS items (PDF reading/printing, etc.).

The only exception if my finance software that is running on my 3000.

I tested all the Amiga like options and MorphOS is really the only one capable of running a modern business on it. IMHO the big advantage with MorphOS is that the Team worked steadfastly on the OS for a great many years and didn't get into the hardware business. Now it is very mature and they have been developing applications that are wonderful. Most of the other Amiga like OS solutions keep rebooting or start from scratch and put a big emphasis on games. This speaks volumes for the MorphOS Team and developers if you ask me.

For me I use Morphos to solve current needs and to replace my winbloz box wherever possible. Even though I have used Amigas since the mid 80's, most of the software I run is native to MorphOS. I will play an occasional game with my kids across the network on it as well.

> retro games [...] such as Quake 3, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, along
> with some of the MorphOS specific games like Knights & Merchants.

In which aspect is Knights and Merchants more MorphOS-specific than Quake 3 or RtCW?

> on cyber-risks - [...] is there any particular strength
> in design features in this regard?

No, not at all. Some related aspects were discussed in that thread.

Quote:

I use MorphOS for a coupöe of reasons. First and probably most important one is that I know the system like no other system. This is because of my private computer background (started on Amiga 500) and because the system is comparatively easy, slim and transprent. I want to control my system as much as possible and on MorphOS I can do that. MorphOS doesn't do things that I don't want it to do (and that more or less OOTB). Also I use old files and programs. My harddisk stil contains much of the stuff from the 90ies, my mail archieve dates back to 1998. These things are rather advantages tied to my own background. In short: I just feel home in front of MorphOS.

But I think that usability and the UI in general is pretty high and logical. Of course it's different to - say - OS X where usability in general is very high, but for the "price" that normal users are just accepting but not actively deciding or controlling what actually happens on their machines.

I also like the niche. It's a small but friendly community. A bit to small though...

I use MorphOS as my main OS (privately), a bit more computing power would be nice though.

A few years ago I liked the fact of being a PowerPC driven system quite a lot. I was thinking about and working (a bit) on a lightweight solution -a small 5125 based device similar to what the Raspberry Pi became. But then the Raspberry came and ppc ran into some void... Today I see PPC as some unlucky heritage and would be glad if we could leave it rather sooner than later.

I like to program on MorphOS even though I use only Hollywood which isn't MorphOS specific.

The resource efficiency is a high plus. And recycling of old computers is of course a great thing that sould get more general attention. It saves resources. Although this is not true on all cases, the G5s are drawing quite some wattage, 24/7 operation of these machines yields probably not a good ecological mark.

Quote:

This is an interesting point. I always used to think back in the late 90s how the AmigaOS was so much more efficient in terms of the hardware it could run on (and thus by definition more energy efficient) and therefore how it presented a better future than the Intel/Windows route that was being taken at that time. I honestly thought that if people could see what little resource it was able to work within then it would present a brighter future in terms of both computer life times and also just more efficient energy use. But as with history, the better product doesn't not always win out.

Your point about keeping old Macs alive is therefore extremely valid (although equally my PowerMac G5 isn't exactly power efficient) in much the same way as we can argue that keeping old cars on the road longer is actually more efficient as the energy costs involved in production are so significant at the beginning of a cars life cycle. I certainly look at my MiniMac G4 and by PowerBook G4 and think its amazing that I am able to do modern tasks on these machines that are both well over a decade old.

Quote:
I've always used Amigas as my main computers (well, since I swapped my c64 for an A500). Already at A500 times I did use it for text processing, drawing, programming etc. Then I upgraded to an A1200, got it online with dial-up modems, kept upgrading the A1200 with CPU cards, graphics cards, audio and network cards, SCSI drives (HDs, CD-RWs, DATs), etc, etc. It ended up being a monsterous twin-tower system (not only the A1200 was moved in a tower case, but also had a separate SCSI-tower for extra mass-storage). At one point I got a Pentium "for studies", but I actually kept using my A1200 as the main machine and never connected the PC with a modem etc.. the PC didn't get much use at all, because I still loved how Amiga did operate and I had all my stuff on it, and I managed to do all I needed with it. Finally this monsterous hacked&patched Amiga started to get a bit slow for my needs and stability wasn't the best either, to be honest.

When I managed to buy a cheap second hand Pegasos 1 with MorphOS in 2004 (for 300e IIRC), the A1200 setup finally retired as my main daily machine. MorphOS was a direct continuation for the expanded Amiga use, so it felt like home immediately. The programs I was using on the A1200/RTG/AHI setup did mostly work on the new MorphOS setup, but everyting was soo much snappier in use and also more stable, thanks to new more modern hardware and built-in features in the OS (didn't require that much suspicious 3rd party software pathces).

Since then I've moved to PPC Macs and MorphOS has kept improving and keeping up during the years. I just love to use this kind of system which has lots of clever things not seen on mainstream platforms and user can tune the system just the way he/she likes (every Amiga user tend to have slightly different taste how). MorphOS has got a good own software base and old Amiga software isn't that important anymore, although a nice bonus and there are some useful programs still. In any case I still haven't felt a need to move on other platforms at home... of course you can't avoid them in the "real world", but I've tried to manage those duties on Amiga/MorphOS as much as possible always :)

So, it's more like where you have grown rather than some certain thing you could point out to be a reason using this system now. There may be better or more professional programs on other platforms, but it's the whole way of using computers... starting from how the UI and filehandling do work, and the whole philosophy under it. And I find it less stressful to use than mainstream systems, less cursing why something still doesn't work like I'd want (or why they can't see that this could be implemented better) and no need to fear which programs you dare to install or do you get some malware everywhere.

Here's a more detailed desctiption for what I usually use MorphOS: link

Quote:

I read those two paragraphs above and completely agreed with them, as that is how I feel as well.

I would say that for many MorphOS users, it is a combination of nostalgia and knowing how the system works, with no hidden actions happening without the user's consent and knowledge. That, plus I think that all former Amiga users have this feeling that their OS of choice should have been the winner in the 1980's OS wars, because at its inception, it was far superior to anything from Apple or Microsoft. AmigaOS should have become the dominant operating system all over the world, if not for mismanagement and corporate ineptitude that ruined Commodore. Of course it would have had to evolve into something different to keep up with the changing standards and security requirements, but if the original team could have been kept together and given the proper resources, AmigaOS would no doubt have become dominant and Windows might never have happened. I think we all have this feeling of "What If", that can never be resolved.

[ Edited by amigadave 25.08.2022 - 15:46 ]