Yokemate of Keyboards
Posts: 2795 from 2006/3/21
From: Northern Calif...
Quote:
Jim wrote:
I don't expect the first X64 releases to contain all these advanced features that everyone keeps mentioning.
Initially I'd expect the ISA change to just jetison the legacy limitations like 31 bitmemory addressing.
Like all previous versions, we can probably anticipate gradual evolution, not abrupt change.
You might be right, given the very limited programming resources (free time and number of developers on the team), the first public release of MorphOS for x64, might only have a couple advanced features, and almost zero software to run, if the Dev. Team does not provide beta versions to interested third party programmers, so they can port their software to the new architecture, API, ABI, and OS.
Personally, I think that approach would be a mistake, and lessen the chances for MorphOS for x64 to become as successful, or more successful, as the current PPC version of MorphOS. I believe geit's post mentioned that the switch to x64 hardware would further fracture the community. I believe that if the switch is not done right, the move could possibly be the beginning of the end, instead of a chance to get things right, and gain thousands of new users, possibly even moving MorphOS into the "mainstream", to compete head to head with Linux distro's.
Granted, the chances that MorphOS for x64 will be that huge of a success are very small, and perhaps the Dev. Team does not even want that much growth and success, I don't know. I do believe that there is a void in the desktop and conventional laptop computing world, that could possibly be filled with something new (like MorphOS for x64), if that something new were created the right way, to solve all, or most of the current short comings found in all Linux and Unix distro's.
I doubt that the MorphOS Dev. Team is ambitious enough to attempt to create a new OS that surpasses all current Linux and Unix distro's, but they might get lucky and do things right without even knowing all the advantages built into what they have created, until many months, or even years after it is first released, if they will only strive for perfection during the creation process, and not settle for too many compromises.
Regarding WINE, I think it would be something desirable to have eventually, but running Windows software on MorphOS for x64 should not be a concern of the MorphOS Dev. Team, during the creation process. In my mind, I foresee MorphOS for x64 to be more like an improved Linux or Unix distro, and not a copy of Windows or MacOSX. I'm hoping for something more than a port of our existing MorphOS for PPC, with only the elimination of the design decisions which held it back, to make it compatible with the Amiga 68k API and software library.
Perhaps the Dev. Team should ask the MorphOS community for feedback, on what new features are most important to the community, before going too far down a path that does not satisfy most of the user base?
I doubt they will ask for such feedback though, and I also doubt that they will announce a feature list of what will be included in MorphOS for x64, before it is ready to be released, or at least until before it is ready to show beta versions of it at some computer shows in the future.
MorphOS - The best Next Gen Amiga choice.