We have been spending most of our time lately supporting the LimePC release. The LimePC uses the Freescale 5121e SoC. The 5121e features a 200MHz co-processor (AXE engine) and the MBX Lite core for graphics. The CPU is a 400MHz e300 PowerPC. Hopefully, millions of LimePC units will be produced, but at this point the number is still less than 100,000.

Currently, our software development is focused on GNU Linux, but we seek more OS options. This is one reason we have decided to support AROS *and* MorphOS once both operating systems are released for the 5200B based EFIKA. We would be pleased to support OS4 too if legal situation was more clear. In any case, a stronger MorphOS community and a stronger AROS community can't be bad for OS4 or Amiga Application Developers and Users. A rising tide lifts all boats...

If you have some thoughts on how we might best restore Amiga-like OS environments to the mass market, please do not hesitate to post the information here or send us an email. Thanks!

Best regards,
R&B

Hi all,

does anyone know how to setup, that when double-clicking on an URL in an e-mail in YAM, Sputnik opens and loads the URL?

For IBrowse there is a arexx script (GoToURL.yam) but it seems not to work with Sputnik.

Any suggestions?

Thanks and best regards

Christoph

Quote:

No, this hypotetical MorphOS x86 would support only certain devices, like every small operating system. It's only the motherboard that's much easier to find and cheaper. In theory, you could pull out the Pegasos motherboard, put in an x86 based one, and plug back every device you had working.

What a load of crap I'm saying!

Quote:

Well, you have AROS...I'd say it has not such
drivers and it works !

You may remember Apple's case, x86 hardware running
both MacOSX and Win. What's wrong?. But we talk
about a billions company.

Being present on a mass market implies MONEY and enormous support, if that's what genesi seems to plan
then the effort will have to be Generous..

I would bet Genesi is not up to the task of entering the mass market dimension. They need to enter that market (market has no legs) or delivery such attractive product that attracts consumers. But if they had a good investor....

Mass market users are not really very interested in OS depths and
tech details, that has been demostrated over the years.

Today it's hard to compete with big hardware companies, so why not use their products adapting your
software?? (X86 has an unending list of available OS)

Oh damm god, you are a small hardware company and that is not business for you.

Summary and deceit: It could be cool to hear your neighborg uses MorphOS and that he/she bought his computer in a local shop.

JC
Quote:

Right, it would not need extensive cab archives and so on.
Pegasos HAL lets you to use standard peripherals, they could run with an x86 board.
Appart from motherboard, proccesors are very easy to find and cheaper too.

Last week i talked to a friend about the MediaCenterPCs to Play Videos, MP3, watch and record TV, DVB-C-S-T, etc...
And he told me that he read in the CT Magazine(a well knowen one in Germany) all solutions under 500 Euro are crap
and actually MediaCenterPCs above 700 Euro lacks some importent featuers. So a good and atractive Product would
be a MediaPC around 500 Euro that could do all the things mentioned above plus HD in 1080p and Internet.
I think the Pegasos/Efika8610 would be a good Hardware and with running the MediaCenter Software from Geit on top of MOS on this Machine.

Remember Amiga was the first Multimedia PC on this Planet, so why don't start with the best and cheapest solution in MediaCenterPCs!?!

@rms

1. for URL:

YAM - CONFIG - SCRIPTS - DOUBLECLICK URL:
AmigaDOS
run >NIL: rx SPUTNIK_URL.rexx url %p

SYS:S/SPUTNIK_URL.rexx
--- begin ---
/*
** $VER: Sputnik-Script url 1.0 (21.04.2008)
*/
SPUTNIKPATH = '`sys:path/sputnik/sputnik`'
parse arg mode'"'url'"'
options results
IF ~show('P','SPUTNIK.1') then address command 'WBRun 'SPUTNIKPATH
do
IF ~show('P','SPUTNIK.1') then address command 'waitforport SPUTNIK.1'
end
address 'SPUTNIK.1' 'OPENURL URL 'url
--- end ---

2. for html files:

YAM - CONFIG - MIME - text/html - Program:
run >NIL: rx SPUTNIK_LOCAL.rexx url %s

SYS:S/SPUTNIK_LOCAL.rexx
--- begin ---
/*
** $VER: Sputnik-Script Localhost 1.0 (21.04.2008)
*/
SPUTNIKPATH = '`sys:path/sputnik/sputnik`'
parse arg mode'"'url'"'
options results
IF ~show('P','SPUTNIK.1') then address command 'WBRun 'SPUTNIKPATH
do
IF ~show('P','SPUTNIK.1') then address command 'waitforport SPUTNIK.1'
end
address 'SPUTNIK.1' 'OPENURL file://localhost/'url
--- end ---

Hints:
1) ...mode'"'url'"'
is ...mode' and " and 'url' and " and '
2) adjust SPUTNIKPATH

[ Edited by mk on 2008/5/23 7:05 ]

Quote:

Why not simply use C/C++ meanwhile.
Isn't Java a bit too slow anyways?

Thanks for stiil showing interest in this Amiga OS like environnement

I think you can really make something big if you are able to release (for an handled device) something with some kind of good graphics acceleration and if we speak about morphOS, you NEED to have Java (like it or not it's a fact), an up to date Flash capability, of course a state of the art Web browser (without this one you'll go nowhere), an easy to use and shiny Mail client, a great media player (something really optimized for the hardware and MOS) AND a professsional SDK WITH a good IDE (something like Visual Studio is the must) the SDK / IDE HAS to be available on MOS, Windows and MacOS / Linux

All these things will make you able to compete (and survive)

Java isn't too slow - new versions, Java HotSpot techology, etc.
I'm using Java for 1) realtime computation and visualization and 2) my EEG files viewer is a lot faster than C++ one

Java is most powerful language from my point of view
- you can write ONE application with GUI and it just runs on Windows/x86, Linux/x86, Solaris/x86, MacOS X, Pegasos + Linux/PPC too ...

And NetBeans IDE really rulez!!! BTW software project from our Charles University

But I don't expect usable Java in next 3 years on MorphOS it's too difficult to create port. What happened to Genesi sponsored Java-port?
If there would be usable port of Java on MorphOS, it would automatically mean porting great NetBeans development IDE and millions of applications! So MorphOS Java port should not be underestimated, it's goldmine full of applications...

[ Edited by luky-amiga on 2008/5/21 19:05 ]

@ mk

Thanks very much for your help, I installed, tested and it seems to work fine

Regards

Christoph

I'm agree that if a java port is made, a lot of application will be ported to Morphos (like openoffice) and a lot of gestion application !
I'm using c++ for starting my dev but it's still difficult to make a complete application with bdd (via sql lite).

I think java would be a leader for making modern applications on our computer !!

Quote:

perhaps that C++ code/algorithm chosen is not well made or the compiler used isn't very good.

Quote:

That's theory. In practice Java VM are slightly incompatible and you have to recompile/rewrite stuff for each Java VM. E.g.: AIX JVM isn't as compatible as it should with Sun's one.

You could say the same about ".net" but I find these solutions slower than native code, regardless of ".net" fanatics telling me that it's as fast as native code. It isn't: take ATI Radeon preferences and watch it crawl on a 1.4Ghz Athlon with 2GB of ram and WinXP.

Quote:

I think a Java port would be nice but I would prefer other apps like Firefox. I would prefer MorphOS running on x86 even more (even if it wasn't binary compatible with PPC/m68k... but I could live with a big endian x86 MorphOS).

@Zylesea

Quote:

Put the ThinPC PCB inside the "Lime Keyboard" case...

2603053373_0424f96061.jpg

and you'd have a...

oqjb41.jpg

...Morpher 1200! Or maybe it would be a "Morpher 600" since it lacks the numeric keyboard? (Or put the PCB inside a cool looking 1280x720 monitor, and you'd have an "iMorpher". )

Of course the Windows logos on the Windows keys would have to be replaced with butteflies, and the green lime (also a LED?) on top with a blue butterfly!

Then phone around to collect distribution rights in order to create a new "super bundle" consisting of *all major* "old timer" SW, titles that you know were popular and big in the days, like "Deluxe Paint" and whatever, names that old timers that has now moved on will recognize. Office apps, graphic apps, sound apps, Internet apps, a few RTG games, etc. SW that is still being owned by someone, although abandoned. Cheap, in other words. The distribution rights should include access and the rights to do whatever mods (if any) in order to make it run flawlessly on MorphOS 2.0 without OCS/ECS/AGA.

When everything is set up - buy one full-page ad in those computer mags which is read by advanced computer users, people that once were Amiga users, people that sure as hell still will remember and recognize the titles in the super bundle. There is at least one of those mags in every western country. They reach people that have never heard about "the Morpher" or MorphOS, but sure as hell knows the titles in the "super bundle". Those titles will be the key - any references to Am*ga should not only be avoided but *banned*. Create a lot of screen shots and even videos (on utube) showing the environment running, the "familiar" desktop and features and functionality but in completely new clothing. A modern OS with new features mixed with those old, familiar retro applications that some people really loved back in the days.

Back in the "Amiga's decade" (1985-1995) many of those people were still young, some of them were students, some of them were teenagers, some of them were even children by legal definition. They had limited money, and things were expensive, so they really came to love what they were able to get a hold of, because they were (and are) hard core computer enthusiasts. Today they work as computer engineers or programmers, and have a completely different financial situation. When they buy a PC (which they do at least every other year) they spend at least $2000, they have a PS1, PS2 and a PS3 and possibly an xbox 360 as well. They will always have a small fund available for cool technology. When they see this offer, a bell will ring somewhere deep down in their brains nostalgia center (Nostalgius Urgeus), and they will remember the good old days, the fun, the poking, the learning, the friends, the magazines, the completely different times and general atmosphere about "home computers" when not everything was centered around Windows Vista and service packs. At $299, a lot of those people would buy it out of pure curiosity. Most of them would definitely love what they see. Eventually, many of them would feel a little constrained by the "Morpher600/1200" specs, especially those wanting to write or port their own Morpher programs. That's when they start looking for the 8610/8640 based "Morpher 4000", a big box computer with real expansion slots and powerful enough for most things!

We will be developing an MPC8610 based laptop. We will use an ATI graphic chip. It just took time to build support for the product. You cannot do something like this alone. We will make a formal announcement in July. Thanks for hanging in there.

R&B

@ Genesi

Great, but why the additional ATI gfx chip? Anyway, good thing (to say the least) . And I guess this is something the MorphOS-Team very likely will support.

> why the additional ATI gfx chip?

For hardware 3D, I guess.

Quote:

This is AWESOME news!

In fact, I wanted to buy second-hand Apple iBook G4...
I hope for portable MorphOS someday... but 8610 laptop is much better solution!

It's a pity that I don't have millions of dollars, I would like to support and speed up your HW efforts
and MorphOS Team of course...

Right now, I'm disappointed that Java is VERY MEMORY HUNGRY. It can't open >10MB file into the text area without wasting 100MB RAM and more! It's known problem, but it seems that Sun will not fix it, it seems like a feature Tried Java 7 - still the same... If I use two text areas, I'm limited to work with 5 MB text file - it's a shame! Java can't fit to small RAM = EFIKA 5200B.

@Genesi

WOW!

It's extremely good news to hear this intention of yours!

Will you use an ATI/AMD southbridge chip as well, or will you go for separate pci-e controllers for storage, usb, and ethernet, etc?

I'm crossing my fingers until the formal announcement (not to say the product arrival ), and I'm looking forward to read more about the specs!

Very good news, Bill and Raquel!

thumbsup.gif

Quote:

Well, its almost July . . .

@BBRV,

Please develop also a Pegasos 3 desktop board :)

Quote:
Staytuned, it's coming up in November.

Genesi wrote:
We will be developing an MPC8610 based laptop... R&B
Boing! So what's happened so far after three months? I would give up OS4.1 for one of your laptops!

So far, only this:

http://en.opensuse.org/MPC8610

We have been demonstrating this with the Flash plugin beta at PowerDev meetings.

R&B

@BBRV
Very interesting...!
But I would join to HammerD request, too!!!

Quote:

@BBRV, in actual state of Morphos you can't go to mass market...
Look at what an eeePC provide to the users (IP Phone, usable Web Browser, Office Tools, Etc...) , this is the minimal required to go to mass market....
In actual state you only can sell Efika boards on Mass Market with a customized Linux distribution and eventually bundle Morphos for Free...

To have missing features in an Amiga-Os like for mass market , there is no secrets, you will have to invest money in developpement...

SixK