Hey-Ho! Another year is just at its end and a new one will follow, So as in the other years I like to ask you folks about your expectations/wishes for 2019 in regard to MorphOS

I think 2018 gave us some nice updates of the OS, the SDK iproved ObjectiveC upport was added, a modern mail client came to the OS and we have Notch the überkiller app! From this POV 2018 was rather nice.
What didn't came: mass migration to MorphOS (well noone expected it, but...), powerful sanely priced new hardware, the big/bold development steps.


Anyway here's y list for 2019:

MorphOS

MorphOS 3.12/3.13 - not too much known about it publically and not as urgently anticipated as 3.10, but is in the works and should be out somewhen within the next 365 days. Hopefully Odyssey gets further improved (compability,JS-JIT)

Wish: Some roadmap/first signs for MorphOS x64?
Wish: Support for Raptor Blackbird as another stopgap.


Applications:

Hollywood 8 will probably come and offer very nice new features (Andreas is a hero!)
Amigazeux is back - eager to see more from them
jPV will probably release some gems.
Maybe we'll see FinalWriter coming out?


For my projects:

After I had little time to do some coding in 2018 I will release something new in 2019. At least a person contact and information manager is pretty progressed and I am looking forward to a first release early 2019. And there is more in the works.

I hope to participate on some user event in 2019.

MorphOS 4.0, new Hollywood version, Wings finished, Viva Amiga documentary fihished too, new games for our system, and the Tabor board runs MorphOS too, and more programs and tools.

I am wishing for something like Nalle Puh for MorphOS. There are some 68k (partially) system friendly applications but require audio custom chipsets. I wish we had something that could divert the sound to AHI / Reagge.

Ofc MorphOS on new hw is on the wish list but since it might take some additional time, let's polish what we have availble :)

> Viva Amiga documentary fihished

Didn't this happen 2 years ago?

https://amigafilm.com/watch-viva-amiga/
https://amigafilm.com/watch-viva-amiga-january-6/

For me and for you :
- SDL 2.0, GLES (more 3D Support) for futur ports
- New Hardwares less expansive (x5000....)
- More users on MorphOS
- New version of MorphOS

- Pagestream5 RELEASE....

1. MOS x86 detailed and demoed
2. MOS for Tabor

Release something 6 times.

I'm gonna count 3.12 as 1 leaving "only" 5 ;)

Quote:
Was that a pig I saw fly-by . . . . at hypersonic speed? Nope . . .
and the same for PageStream 5 . . . Nope that's not going to happen, IMHO.

Deron (Kazmaier - PageStream author) has left the engine running, but sadly no-one is at the wheel, or so it seems.

I wish that wasn't the case, but I do hope ASiegel manages to gather together enough of his source code for Folio, and improve on its first steps, as this is a good application, and worthy of any further improvement.

A native PPC version of Libre Office, or something with similar attributes, would be nice to have in 2019, as the legacy, individual pieces of software from Amiga 68k days are "long in the tooth", and clunky, requiring Trance and having older gadgets and GUI that has been superceded by the more modern appearance of MorphOS's look and feel, and any OS needs such software to be more complete as a platform people will consider migrating to as a viable alternative to other OSs.

I'd like to see the USB Isochronous audio work correctly, and allow other hardware to be utilised with MorphOS, as when I disconnect any of the USB audio devices I have, that even though they might be recognised, only stutter with audio output, so it's just unuseable, and which I have to then disconnect either through USB device de-allocation or just unplugging it/them, then my system is just unuseable until I reboot.

Fix . . . the locking of the USB device list once SCANdal has been terrminated, which will then not allow any new USB hardware to be recognised, and will not even allow SCANdal to re-initialise the device it just used once it has been quit. (Zukow aware)

Whatever happens in 2019, I will, hopefully, still be using MorphOS as my OS of choice . . . a choice I am glad to have made. Great work guys in 2018, and long may it continue.

My wish is FFmpeg 4

Quote:

Tabor? Never happening, the P1022 cpu is too sub-standard.
But there will be a few alternatives eventually.

And MorphOS could be ported to a Raptor Engineering Blackbird Power 9 based system.
Development of the X64 version could use a very similar tool chain, and the Power version could easdily match the X64 system or out perform it, as Power 9 has a built-in hypervisor than only uses about 2% of the processor's power, versus about 20% for a software based hypersvisor on a X64 system.

Power 9 is bi-endian, and could run existing MorphOS with no alteration, while providing a multitude of additional threads that could run a more advanced little endian 64 based box (better than a X64 version), heck, we could even devote a few threads to emulating X64 and its versious OS', for simultaneous Power and X64 threads via the hypervisor, an enhanced or replaced Ambient could be written to composite all windows from active OS sesions by being linked tightly with a version of Quark with the ability to manage and switch threads...

We could have a modern day Amiga like system running an up to date MorphOS that could also run virtually anything else (no doubt OS4 as well as all we would need would be P50X0 emulation, or better yet e6500 core emulation).
We might even be able to convince the Hackintosh community into helping us run various versions of OSX.
So, MorphOS, OS4, MorphOS NG, Linux (and of course BSD and other Unix based OS'), Windows and possibly OSX....all at once.

These OS' can be SMP enabled or non-SMP with the correct hypervisor management.

And remember,the four core based Blackbird supports 16 simulanous threads (not really including the hypervisor which is implemented primarily in the hardware).
The eight core based Blackbird supports 32 simultaneous threads.

Personally, I'd rather spend $1400-$1600 on a Blackbird based MorphOS or AmigaOS system, than spend $400 on a crippled system like Tabor. Its an easy equation. At least double the clock speed, full 64 bit operation (big or little endian), and least 14 more threads, with faster memory, drive interfaces, USB3.0, and PCIe slots that are four generations ahead of Tabor (with CAPI).

I am saving for one of these, now.
And as Mark once expressed interest in obtain a T2080 laptop motherboard (to build a desktop), I'm sure he wouldn't mind receiving a Blackbird system.

That doesn't mean MorphOS would ever official support Power9.
But do you really think that if offered a Blackbird system our developers could resist the temptation to create a beta port of MorphOS when it ought to be reletively simple for an initial straight port of the existing OS?
And, eventually, it would make a neat development system for developing the X64 fork.
Take existing MorphOS elements, enhance them for PPC64le, and then just rework the code for X64.
You'd have something that could run and develop both Power and X64 variants of MorphOS and its tool chains and cross compile components reasonably easily, all on one system.

A multi-monitor version of something like this would be stunning.

What would really make it cool is if we could develop a cut and paste function via the hypervisor that would allow us to transfer data from one OS session/Window to another.

Think about it. You pull something from legacy AmigaOS or MorphOS, and could paste it directly into a more advanced environment for further development, again, on one system.

[ Edited by Jim 31.12.2018 - 21:42 ]

Tabor: Not gonna happen, pointless and even counterproductive as it would force developers to maintain separate binaries.

Raptor: Maybe as a tech-demo, full port would only make sense if there were plans for a PPC-MorphOS_4 (SMP,64bit) which would also work on G5s but even then the Raptor would need another price cut to become a viable target.

> the Power version could easdily match the X64 system or out perform it, as
> Power 9 has a built-in hypervisor than only uses about 2% of the processor's
> power, versus about 20% for a software based hypersvisor on a X64 system.

Why would an x64-native MorphOS need to run on "a software based hypersvisor on a X64 system"?

> Power 9 [...] could run existing MorphOS with no alteration

...using QEMU's mac99 virtualization with KVM-PR, that is.

> while providing a multitude of additional threads that could run a more
> advanced little endian 64 based box (better than a X64 version)

Why not run this potential little-endian PPC64 version of MorphOS on bare metal (PowerNV) instead of boxed?

> we could even devote a few threads to emulating X64 [...],
> for simultaneous Power and X64 threads via the hypervisor

I'm not sure the hypervisor can help with emulating x64 on POWER.

> no doubt OS4 as well as all we would need would be P50X0 emulation

OS4 already runs fine on QEMU's Sam460 emulation. Btw, QEMU already has P50X0/e5500 emulation but that isn't enough to run OS4 as there's more to a board/system than just the CPU.

> or better yet e6500 core emulation

OS4 doesn't run on e6500.

> PCIe slots that are four generations ahead of Tabor

3 generations.

> Take existing MorphOS elements, enhance them for PPC64le,
> and then just rework the code for X64.

Code that has been cleaned from big-endian assumptions and adapted to modernized MorphOS API should just need a recompile for a potential x64 MorphOS.

> What would really make it cool is if we could develop a cut and paste
> function via the hypervisor that would allow us to transfer data from one
> OS session/Window to another. Think about it. You pull something from
> legacy AmigaOS or MorphOS, and could paste it directly into a more
> advanced environment for further development, again, on one system.

QEMU supports clipboard sharing between guest and host (and thus also between guests). There needs to run a special service in the guest OS for this to work, though, which doesn't exist yet for AmigaOS or MorphOS.

>Why would an x64-native MorphOS need to run on "a software based hypersvisor on a X64 system"?

Because I use VM boxes to run multiple OS'.

>> Power 9 [...] could run existing MorphOS with no alteration

>using QEMU's mac99 virtualization with KVM-PR, that is.

Or other virtualizations. I'd like to see something emulating a P5040 based X5000.

>> while providing a multitude of additional threads that could run a more
>> advanced little endian 64 based box (better than a X64 version)

>Why not run this potential little-endian PPC64 version of MorphOS on bare metal (PowerNV) instead of boxed?

Everything on Power4-9 runs with the hypervisor enabled, even if its only running a single thread.

>> we could even devote a few threads to emulating X64 [...],
>> for simultaneous Power and X64 threads via the hypervisor

>I'm not sure the hypervisor can help with emulating x64 on POWER.

Niether am I, I haven't had the time to study it well enough, but what little I have covered gives me the impression it will be the core of ourability to run X64 and PPC code concurrently.

>>no doubt OS4 as well as all we would need would be P50X0 emulation

>OS4 already runs fine on QEMU's Sam460 emulation. Btw, QEMU already has P50X0/e5500 emulation but that >isn't enough to run OS4 as there's more to a board/system than just the CPU.

Frankly, I not that concerned as to what the emulated system is, I'd just like to beable to freak out OS4 fanatics by being able to run their OS as part of the type of system I've described.

>> or better yet e6500 core emulation

>OS4 doesn't run on e6500.

No, but MorphOS could, and Linux does.

>> PCIe slots that are four generations ahead of Tabor

>3 generations.

Correct, PCIe v1.0 vs v4.0, so not four generations, but only three. However, if the specs I have are correct, PCIe v1.0 has a transfer rate of 250MB/sec vs PCIe v4.0's transfer rate of 1969MB/sec.
Or about eight times the bandwidth per lane, with Tabor (and Samantha) only supplying 4 PCIe lanes to the video card while Blackbird's expansion slots provide 8 or 16 lanes.
In other words, a potential of almost 16 times the bandwidth.

>> Take existing MorphOS elements, enhance them for PPC64le,
>> and then just rework the code for X64.

>Code that has been cleaned from big-endian assumptions and adapted to modernized MorphOS API should >just need a recompile for a potential x64 MorphOS.

Yes, this step would be relatively simple.

>> What would really make it cool is if we could develop a cut and paste
>> function via the hypervisor that would allow us to transfer data from one
>> OS session/Window to another. Think about it. You pull something from
>> legacy AmigaOS or MorphOS, and could paste it directly into a more
>> advanced environment for further development, again, on one system.

>QEMU supports clipboard sharing between guest and host (and thus also between guests). There needs to >run a special service in the guest OS for this to work, though, which doesn't exist yet for AmigaOS or >MorphOS.

So the facility is there if we hook into it? Cool!

To me, this looks like the superior platform, not X64.




[ Edited by Jim 01.01.2019 - 17:55 ]

MorphOS on Tallos II? MorphOS 68K?

[ Edited by redrumloa 01.01.2019 - 16:33 ]

Key is only 50$ and you even get a free tshirt!

Quote:

Maybe, or on an enhanced FPGA version of the 68K.

How about Coldfire V5? NXP just might be willing to sell those to a less restricted market then they currently limit it to.

Quote:

I like the idea of a tshirt.

And again, the path from big endian 64 bit G5, to big endian Power 9, and finally to little endian Power9 seems sensible. All of those could support SMP, memory protection and the other bells and wistles on our wish list without an ISA change.




[ Edited by Jim 01.01.2019 - 18:04 ]

Quote:

Coldfire? Man, why not porting MorphOS to the mars rover (it even has a ppc), probably as future proof, spread and easy to get hold of as coldfire....

I don't know about you, but I want MorphOS on easy to get and powerful hardware. This is the aging PowerMac or x64 kit. One may think about ARM instread x64 (but I favor x64).
Raptor Blackbird may be worth a bit of discussion/consideration as it is POWER. But it also has some issues: not really wide spread, no laptop, a bit pricey and it is somehow cannoning on sparrows.

Quote:

The biggest problems I see with X64 are that we will have to limit support to a few selected models and the ISA is not software compatible.
Laptops we already have, and if an e6500/T2080 laptop is ever produced we will have a multi-core, multi-threaded, 64 bit laptop as a potential target.

I was sort of joking about Coldfire (although I do have an unrelated project involving that). I'm not sure that even a 600MHz Coldfire V5 or a Vampire style 68K based FPGA basedsystem would be powerful enough for MorphOS to run adequately.

Powerful hardware? Well, our G5s run at up to 2.7 GHz, they are 64 bit, multi-core PPCs. They lack the hypervisor included in other Power 4 based cpus, but they could serve as a starting point for MorphOS NG.

And the promo prices that were just offered on the four and eight core Blackbird board proves that we could get REALLY powerful upgrade hardware at prices comparable to the X5000.

Finally, there are a few other future possibilities that can't be discussed yet (until I'm released from an NDA). But, honestly, we seem to be in a better position then those relying Aeon/Hyperion. Why not push forward with what has our primary focus?

An X64 fork does not have force the discontinuation of the Power based OS. Not when the two can be shifted to hardware with similar capabilities. And, from what I've been able to uncover so far, Power9 is better suited to VM applications than X64.

Quote:
Do you received the dvd and the package with the rest of promotions?
Because still I waiting the dvd after to pay them....

Virtual memory support for MorphOS would be nice. No, not that 90's VMM crap that leaves a pool of low priority virtual RAM so your computer slows to a crawl when you run out of RAM. I mean proper VM like modern OS's have, VM that does its best to make sure anything important, compute-bound or currently in use is always running in physical memory and swaps out anything in the background.

Bank switching to allow for a far greater memory address space than 2GB and transparent defragmentation by swapping out and back in to free up contiguous space would also be cool.

Ah, but nobody cares about anything like updating the OS infrastructure. People only care about shiny things like overpriced, pointless new hardware they'll never be able to use properly.

[ Edited by KennyR 02.01.2019 - 12:59 ]

"Proper" VM means giving each task it's own address space (otherwise you're still restricted to 2GB, quite pointless when you have that in real RAM), which will break most SW.

Now I'm all for breaking legacy, but only if it's done once.

Read, VM,SMP and 64Bit all should happen at the same time.

From my side, I would love to see a MorphOS like desktop environment implemented for Linux, instead of real OS enhancements.

Quote:

Linux sucks

Giving up quark for the Linux Kernel could be an option. Probably even a not too stupid option (of done cleverly) , but for some reason i prefer a 100% independent solution.

>>> Power 9 [...] could run existing MorphOS with no alteration

>> using QEMU's mac99 virtualization with KVM-PR, that is.

> Or other virtualizations. I'd like to see something emulating a P5040 based X5000.

Existing mac99 virtualization is fully sufficient and can run AltiVec binaries. X5000 virtualization, beside not yet existing, couldn't. What advantages would it have for running MorphOS?

>>> while providing a multitude of additional threads that could run a more
>>> advanced little endian 64 based box (better than a X64 version)

>> Why not run this potential little-endian PPC64 version of MorphOS
>> on bare metal (PowerNV) instead of boxed?

> Everything on Power4-9 runs with the hypervisor enabled

Yet, a host OS that runs directly on PowerNV (i.e non-virtualized) with access to OPAL is not running in a 'box', at least according to my understanding of the term. Otherwise, it'd be hard to distinguish such host OS from virtualized guest environments.

Edit: clarifying quote:
"there is no hypervisor under Linux when we're using the powernv platform, Linux *is* the hypervisor."
http://lists.mailinglist.openpowerfoundation.org/pipermail/openpower-community-dev/2019-March/000019.html

>>> no doubt OS4 as well as all we would need would be P50X0 emulation,
>>> or better yet e6500 core emulation

>> OS4 doesn't run on e6500.

> No, but MorphOS could

...as could OS4 ;-)

> about eight times the bandwidth per lane, with Tabor (and Samantha)
> only supplying 4 PCIe lanes to the video card while Blackbird's
> expansion slots provide 8 or 16 lanes. In other words, a potential
> of almost 16 times the bandwidth.

Even 32 times with 16 lanes on POWER9 :-)

[ Edited by Andreas_Wolf 14.03.2019 - 12:52 ]