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I agree, MorphOS on the MacMini will be great and we can only hope that additional ports will be done to Mac laptops and more powerful PowerMacs in the future. I would love to see MorphOS taking full advantage of a dual G5 PowerMac some day, but fear that it will remain only a dream. I can hardly wait to get MorphOS loaded on to my MacMini and see how much faster it will be than my Efika, since that is my only MorphOS machine right now.

I also like the idea of a port to the Power WorkStations or any other new hardware, even x86-64 some day, with the team choosing just one or two mobo's and other components to write drivers for, instead of using a Linux Kernal to gain drivers for hundreds of different hardware devices, I would be satisfied with only one or two hardware choices and have the MOS dev team write drivers to those devices and mobo's.

I know that MorphOS is going to fly on any new fast hardware design, so if the team does not come out with a new port to different hardware except every other year after the initial move to new and powerful hardware, that would be fine with me. I prefer not buying a new PC every year and would be very happy to just get one every 4 to 5 years instead.

Edit: I don't really care which platform the MorphOS Development Team chooses to work on porting to after the MacMini is completed, but hope that they will continue to choose more powerful desktop replacement hardware and/or laptops that will be as fast, or faster than the 1.5GHz G4 MacMini. Onward and upward with MorphOS, let's overtake Linux some day as a more desirable desktop OS for the masses of geeks that do not want to run any version of Windows anymore and have not yet become an Apple customer, or fan.

[ Edited by amigadave on 2009/6/22 3:34 ]

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No really, stop cheering, we are amigans! Can't we think about some way of using additional CPUs in MorphOS... 4.0? After all, we were doing weirder things in the past, with PowerUP.
Then, of course, it would be just for a couple of programs, that would be aware of this, and send easily partitioned tasks to the additional CPUs.
Oh, well, which MorphOS usage needs so much power that it would welcome another CPU attached to the main one?
And most of all, who is going to buy a couple of dual CPU PowerPC computers (which will cease to exist rather soon) for the MorphOS Team? Along with enough free time to even start considering the strategy of such a thing?

Me having envy for how easy are things in the x86 world? Nooooo...

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"It isn't ready yet".

It doesn't even prove the development already started.
You only prove what I said - "no official info".

I'll wait anyway, what am I supposed to do - cry?

You're welcome. Info is available for you to find, this need for "official info" is probably not healthy, cry if that helps you cope.

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No need to be rude here.

I like official statements because I'm grown up already.

No official = rumors.

Rumors = facts OR manipulations OR delusions.

That's my views. And not only mine.

@ DiskDoctor

The tone is always a bit rude here, but that's mostly a kind of a special friendlyness (you know, real men (tm) don't hug ).
But I don't understand your continued sceptism. MorphOS on the Mini has been shown several times publically and it was confirmed by several members of the MorphOS-Team that the release for the Mini will come.
Given the fact, that the MorphOS-Team is very sparse with announcements due to a policy of no more broken promises, I am sure you can very much confine in that word.

It will make a difference.

Release the darn thing already ;) I'm tired of playing around with OSX.

Hello been a while since I have posted.

At any rate Morph is dead without a better hardware path. If Mac mini is the only way to move forward then so be it. I would think that user base would increase somewhat if 'mini' were in the equation. I think it would increase more if other Mac G4 machines were thrown into the mix (maybe 1000 more?) With extremely limited OEM hardware and riding piggyback on 'market obsolete' Mac G4 machines, Morph will ultimately remain a cult OS developed by a few and used by a few. This long term equation ultimately hinges on developers keeping it alive. I do not really have an issue with this and hold no illusions of Morph becoming a mainstream OS. In fact, I think it is better as a private OS.

As far as Morph becoming dominant to AmigaOS4, this is harder to say. Sam440ep board pricing will limit their userbase to developers or hobbyists with a big budget. I went Morph because it is a nice OS and Efika was dirt cheap but that is just me... I also went Morph for political reasons.

Aros/Icaros will be an interesting one to watch. They have a hardware advantage (in theory). Let's just blend Morph into Aros! Yeah right.... It would be interesting though because OS4 would essentially die against this kind of opposition.

Here is a question, can a linux kernel based 'Morphilon' be created? I see various work being done on PPC JIT compliers.... This isn't an optimal solution but it does somewhat release Morph from its current hardware prison.... I always admired Amithlon for its linux kernel approach. Too bad Umilator never made it out. That could have been a real dandy... Thank you 'Amiga leadership' for hosing this good thing up! (sorry forum readers...that was a little off topic. Let's just say this is one of those political reasons I have for being a Morph fan)

Best solution is nice-modern mainstream PPC based hardware (that isn't hand-me-down like Mac). This looks highly unlikely unless someone mass produces a board that Morph can adapt to.

Well that is all I can think of for now. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone..

@Rodomoc,

Yes, MorphOS is dead without a better hardware path, but it will die even sooner without some temporary hardware path. That is what I see the port to the MacMini as, a temporary bandage to keep the patient alive until a cure can be found.

Perhaps the port to the G4 PPC MacMini will allow the MOS Dev Team to learn enough about the Mac architecture to promote a quick future port to other G4 PPC Mac models if no better hardware solution is found within the next year. Then hopefully during the time taken to port to other G4 PPC Mac models, a better hardware solution will be found, but if not again, then perhaps the MorphOS Dev Team will upgrade MorphOS to take advantage of the G5 PPC and the next version will be ported to one or more Mac G5 PPC models.

Of course, finding new hardware to port to is the preferred solution, but until there is new hardware to port to, or until the team decides to cross over to x86-64 hardware, where there will always be something new every month, taking advantage of the easier port to leftover Mac hardware will keep this tiny community going and hopefully growing.

I know that used Mac hardware is not the best long term solution, but it is an improvement over anything we have had up to this date and it is the easier path as long as MorphOS remains a PPC OS.

The other advantage porting to discontinued hardware is that the Amiga/Morph group as a whole is incredibly CHEAP and complains about spending money on just about anything, so getting used Mac hardware at a fraction of the cost it would take for new proprietary hardware (like the incredibly expensive SAM hardware) makes some sense for a tiny niche market. No hardware debt or risk for the development team other than their own machines and a better chance to make a decent profit from just selling the OS, plus no hardware support headaches.

That is my take on the current situation anyway, for what it is worth.

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That hardware does exist, even in low end and high end markets: For the low end, copy MPC5121e evaluation board (LimePC already did a CONSUMER product with this one). For the high end, copy the MPC8610 evaluation board (NEC already did it with the RedTail).
Most new computers are born as copies of the CPU manufacturer's evaluation board. Remember that the first Pegasos came from MAI's logic Articia evaluation board (correct me if I'm wrong). In the process of building your own board, take MorphOS Team into play for them to port the software. If you have the documentation for every hardware function on board...

Now, who has the guts of investing into this? freescale has already dumped the whole PowerPC story, and LimePC is know for screwing a certain company that tried to...

If it was just about the money (it ain't), we SHOULD have raised it ourselves long ago.

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That was AmigaONE, not the Pegasos.

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So the public demonstrations of MorphOS on the mini could have been part of the hoax perpetuated by the MorphOS Team, and the attendees were fools not to realize this? Ok, why don't you tell us what you would like to read in an official statement, maybe explain why you would put more trust in that.

AmigaDave,

Thank you for a well thought response. I am surely on board for the Mac porting efforts. It is a must. This can be a great temporary hardware solution. Mac hardware may even end up as the end of the line. This may hold Morph back from widespread use but will definitely serve the immediate community very well (and long term too). I'm good with it. When I look back on my PET/C64 days, Morph on any hardware is obviously a cool thing.

Morph on a hot G4 or even G5 is quite above SAM440 based gear. So we take this one step at a time and get into Mac mini. Hopefully what is technically learned with mini will propel other Mac variants in easier fashion. I give a lot of credit to those working on these efforts.

, Rodomoc



[ Edited by Rodomoc on 2009/6/24 10:11 ]