@Momtymole

Your welcome.

TrevorD

@ thread

I read recently on another thread it is possible (to consider) some discount for MacMini release.

I, too, think it is good since it might attract people that are "just curious about it".

Also, it is fine to spend some free licenses in order to advert MOS, say on Mac forums.

Ideas?

I mean to go that way just to attract people been off the Amiga world for long, not necessarily convinced for 150 Eur purchase.

I imagine the mini release will allow you to try it out before you decide if you want to pay the registration fee.

@ Golem

I pretty agree on the final price but I think it is worth to sacrify several licenses for sake of Mac forums reviews, some promotional giveaways etc. Either is gonna make it get back.

I'm not conviced most OSX users would see the appeal of MorphOS, not exactly sure who you would be targeting in these forums.

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Ex-Amiga owners, geeks, some programmers also.

EDIT* PLEASE guys, don't use phrases like "Most OSX Mini users don't / won't". This is more than a sarcasm, I'm not a retard to juggle numbers like 100 000 - 500 000 users in this very discussion.

[ Edited by DiskDoctor on 2009/5/6 15:28 ]

Well ok, did you have anyone specific in mind?

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I don't know what you mean.

I named the groups in question. You want me to quote numbers? I'm pretty sure that with null actions Mini release would double MOS userbase. But should any actions occur...

Ok, thanks.

I don't think it will increase the userbase in that dimensions... The people who are interested in MorphOS already have their compatible hardware, and they are getting the Mac mini as the second or third or whatever MorphOS machine. Maybe it will increase the number of registrations, but it won' increase the userbase.

"The people who are interested in MorphOS already have their compatible hardware"

false.
many of them dont own classic ppc anymore, didnt buy pegasoses coz a, morphos wasnt mature enough when the pegs were on sale (pre 1.4 and even 1.4.5), b, they find them too expensive, c, they were not intrested in another custom motherboard made in low volumes, d, anything else
efika is certanly too low spec for many of intrested users.

so the mini is another chance for these ppl coz it is relatively cheap, available, theres still support for it (repair, etc..) and has some power (above 1ghz w. altivec) and i've red many comments at various forums where ppl claim that they are intrested in mini port of os4 or morphos. if morphos will be the 1st on mini or any other mac those not die-hard os4 fans would choose morphos instead (as a recent member here did after he discovered moprhos through os4 forums:)

doubleing the userbase with the mini port is absolutely not unrealistic.
pbook and ibook could do more.

> Maybe it will increase the number of registrations

It will for sure, as the Mac minis will need a new key.

> but it won' increase the userbase.

I guess it will, at least slightly. Many will do what I'm going to do: to sell their already registered MorphOS hardware including key file to then new MorphOS users for a *very* low price (because PPC Mac minis are already rather cheap). This would be especially true for Pegasos I (and maybe Efika), as Pegasos II would probably be sucked up mainly by (new) OS4 users. And therein lies the crux: On the one hand I wish OS4 to be released for Pegasos I for me to be able to demand a higher price for mine, on the other hand this would probably lead to increasing OS4 user base instead of MorphOS user base ;-)

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Well... surely, at least, there will be one more user... me !

My mini is in happy waiting state and I hadn't got MorphOS "suitable" machines until now...

well, i wonder, if there will be -ANY- new machine like Pegasos3 or so... or if the MorphOS will be ported to x86 or what... i some PowerPC emulation will be executed until x86 machines... else i can't see any big chances to make morphos widespread...

bye, MarK.

hello there,

is the morphos license still 150 euros ?
I'm asking because I cant find any information at morphos-team.net ?
i'm mostly a lurker here, the only thing keeping me from trying morphos is the steep price, fyi.

Here's your answer. Under Q: How much does it cost?

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MorphOS is still free to try.

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It is 111.11 for a while now. Nobody know if the price wil rise again or stay as it is, but it is like that for quite some time now. It is a pricereduction of about 1/4.

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with all due respect, it isn't, I also need to chase down some overpriced obsolete hardware to try it. (or in the case of macs, more sensible priced obsolete hardware)

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Mac PPC hardware being completely obsolete is debatable. It has been far surpassed, but is still very usable for most computer tasks. I am typing this on my 1.67GHz G4 PowerBook, which is my most used computer these days and though is is much slower than my 2.16GHz Core2Duo MacBook that I gave to my Son when I purchased this G4 PowerBook used, it is quite adequate for my portable computing needs, running MacOSX.

As for sensible priced hardware, many people have been able to get their used PPC Mac hardware for free, or at a price of less than $50, so trying MorphOS2.x's free demo is sometimes completely free, and in most other cases, anyone that really wants to just test it out can find a way to beg, borrow, or buy a used PPC Mac for very low cost, before committing to the purchase of better PPC Mac hardware and the purchase of a license.

So, with all due respect, in many cases, trying MorphOS2.x can be completely free, and in all other cases, if you try hard enough, you can demo MorphOS2.x at very low cost, before you buy the license and the faster, better models of PPC Mac hardware.

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There is no misconception by any of the MorphOS Developer Team members that MorphOS2.x will be "widespread" and in fact the Team has discouraged regular users from advertising MorphOS2.x to anyone other than former Amiga owners/users, as it is not ready to compete with any of the main stream OSes, and it may never be ready to compete with main stream OSes.

Due to the small size and part time status of the Development Team, MorphOS2.x will most likely stay on PPC hardware for as long as it can find suitable used and/or any new embedded market PPC systems/boards to run it on. The time and effort required for such a small part time team to port MorphOS2.x to x86, or ARM hardware makes it very difficult to do and it would take a very long time, so it only makes sense that they have chosen the current path they are on with their ports to relatively fast, cheap PPC Mac hardware that is very plentiful.

For new hardware possibilities, check the forums for all the discussions regarding new PPC development boards, mostly aimed at the embedded market. If one of those boards becomes available at a very good price and has the needed features to make it comparable to, or better than, the currently supported G4 (and hopefully soon to be supported G5) Mac hardware, I am sure the Dev. Team will take a serious look at porting MorphOS2.x to it.

I would bet a large part of my monthly retirement check that the MorphOS Development Team will never make the mistake of trying to design and manufacture their own "custom" motherboard, or system, as they know that it would end up being too expensive and not be competitive against other options available to them as porting targets.

@coze

If you use a mac to try, it hardly involves chasing down.
Very cheap models can easily be found on Ebay.
Don't forget, if you decide MorphOS isn't for you, you can always resell the mac and potentially make a profit on the deal.

So not only can you try MOS for free, you can actually get paid for it.

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Well, it doesnt make sense to start with "custom" hardware again, really. The most "successful" custom (PPC) motherboard (in the post 2000 era) probably was the PegasosII sold around 2004-2006. I doubt that any other MorphOS/AmigaOS (or alike) focused (custom) hardware ever sold in similar quantities again (*). Looking at this 5 year+ old hardware, it really doesn't make sense to waste energy&resources on designing new custom hardware yet again. As we were closely involved in/following the development process of the mainboard back then, we really know how much time, efforts & money it takes to get to a final product.
Considering that and looking at the fast moving technology world, it is really no option with our - actually pretty tiny - userbase. Kudos! to everyone who tries in our multi-flavour microcosm but making a living or just trying to make money with it can't be the driving force there, it's probably pretty difficult to break even on the costs. And in the end, you are most likely 1-2 years behind the initial release schedule and already get into trouble sourcing all the parts for the production run, as well as getting blamed by potential customers to sell outdated/overpriced hardware before you even started....


(*) The MorphOS "focus" is arguable since PegasosII already came with proper Linux support back then from the start. Getting a custom PPC motherboard to run Linux is a rather void argument nowadays, though ....

I'm sorry but I still cant convince myself into trying something I will never justify buying ... It will be like buying a delicious lollipop and seeing it taken away after a few licks :)

I'm a long time Amiga user, and having a Amiga OS on my desktop would be awesome, but I require full functionality (even though I wont be using it for daily tasks) because (living in japan) my space (I mean literally space) and time are very limited. I can't really be bothered to setup a crippled system. It just doesn't feel right.

At this point I can't really understand decision by the Morphos team to charge unrealistic subscription prices for their software. As I understand they don't have the illusion of competing with the main OS'es out there, the user base will be hard core Amiga fans. So what are they planning to achieve by keeping the subscription fee so high ? parting with >100 euros is not an easy decision, as it is kind of money that can be spent going to a gig, flying to a nearby country, buying your kids something they want really bad, getting a android tablet, etc, it's not small money. With subscription fee in the range of 30-50 there will be more people using and contributing to the OS (they may rest assured, the userbase will not be 'widespread' even with a subscription fee in that range).

Just my two yens ...

Looks like AROS is the way to go for you. No need to buy any crippled extra hardware, no "subscription fee" (which naturally equals to "widespread userbase"), and no space-consuming Mac Mini on your desk .