Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!udel!mmdf From: 91_bickingd@gar.union.edu (Bicking, David) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: A rough future for the Amiga??? I think not. Message-ID: <16192@snow-white.udel.EDU> Date: 7 Apr 90 23:27:39 GMT Sender: mmdf@udel.EDU Lines: 108 >Subject: Amiga pessimism >From: bgribble@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Bill Gribble) >Date: 28 Mar 90 05:21:28 GMT > money to a starving college student. But I've been reading all this - > to put it mildly - pessimistic stuff about the Amiga's future, and > I'm beginning to wonder, too. Don't wonder. If you aren't sure, do what I did. Take a fresh, close look at the "competition" and compare it to the Amiga. I can't say I've been going to the nitty-gritty details, but I can say that just today, I read up on a few mags I don't normally read. And I don't find too many areas where the amiga is "dying". Take a look yourself! In Info World, IBM and Apple are coming out with "new" developments that have been a part of Amiga for quite some time. For example, IBM announced it's new "high-productivity" file system. Amongst the radical enhancements the article writer mentionned? - Long filenames - Path up to 256 characters long - saves names with caps, but ignores them for other purposes. ie: file named "ThisIsATest" can be called by entering "thisisatest" - A significant speed improvement Sound familiar? I've been using such a file system since I bought my Amiga in Dec 1987. And with WB 1.4, we will have a much faster speed too. >What *does* the future hold for Commodore and the Amiga? I see some... If C= continues down its current path, the future is "so bright I gotta wear shades". That is, if they continue to improve (accelerate) like they have recently, and don't drop the ball, they will be fine, but it might be bumpy, so hold on! >So what's the deal? Is 1.4 really going to make that big of a difference? Alright, I won't say _exactly_ what 1.4 has, since I probably shouldn't have seen it at all :) and I don't know if C= has purposefully hidden its development path. I will say this much from the 15 minutes I have spent on it. o It is in beta testing, and is 520K long now, probably because it is in disk form (rom is going to be 512K) o It looks different, and is MUCH more powerful, and professional looking. It is colorful too. Better mouse speed is controlled in preferences. o much more friendly, many more options on WB, the WB is a window. o The "insert WB disk" screen has been radically changed o Fonts can be changed at will, screen/window backdrops in prefs. There is much, much more, but I only touched on the surface when I used it myself, and I saw no docs. I only had one "lockup" but that was clearly a bug in the icon editor I fiddled with on the extras disk. I hope I haven't said anything I really shouldn't have, and I will accept any flames from C= humbly if I have, but I just couldn't resist saying SOMETHING. Besides, these are all cosmetic changes I described. Just don't SUE me :) > What's the state of development on upcoming goodies? My plan right > now is to stick with my Amiga for three more years - will there > be an up-to-date '030 or '040 C= machine to replace it? Or will we > still be waiting for the 3000? I understand the toaster has been shown in final form, but I read that on this digest a few days ago. The recent discussion of AmigaVision tells me that C= really has its act together, and I want to see it in action. I hope it uses the ECS for display (productivity resolution). >I'm writing this to spark some discussion, so flame away! Well, I've read Byte's review of the IIfx, and I find it a joke. First off, as I posted earlier, Apple is outright lying in its advertisements. There are several "innovations" "developed" by Apple that put it on a level with the Amiga 2000. It is "the first computer to use coprocessors" to relieve the 68030 of the "mundane" tasks. The SCSI/DMA, the "6 Nubus" ports etc, etc. The only things I've seen so far that puts it ahead of the A2500/30 is: 1. a 40mhz cpu (oooh, ahhh! like no one else will have that in about a month) 2. The 24 bit graphics accellerator card standard component. This is where I feel C= has dropped the ball. They too have such a card (according to rumor) but will be announced a little later. Apple won the headlines. in 1985, they released the mac a few months before C= released the Amiga... notice who has the lion's share of the market? I know C= can rebound and out-perform Apple, but only with strong leadership, and I feel they have it in Harry Copperman, Dr John Harrison, and Howard Diamond amongst many more. > Bill. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=- #DEFINE std.disclaimers "A.N.A.R.C.H.Y.:it isn't a belief, it's a way of life!" Dave Bicking Single Tasking????? Just say NO!!!! Union College Box 152 91_bickingd@union.bitnet Schenectady, NY 12308 91_bickingd@gar.union.edu // \X/ Amiga -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-