Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!xylogics!merk!alliant!linus!eachus From: eachus@linus.mitre.org (Robert I. Eachus) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: ..Most Excellent Message-ID: Date: 8 May 90 23:59:54 GMT References: <18017@snow-white.udel.EDU> <1990May7.184749.20324@digibd> Sender: news@linus.UUCP Organization: The Mitre Corporation, Bedford, MA Lines: 57 In-reply-to: steve@digibd's message of 7 May 90 18:47:49 GMT Since this question keeps coming up.... I have seen a 3000 and spent a couple of hours hands on. A very nice machine, but the price is the real killer for now. That's the only way in which it currently obsoletes the A2500/30. The 16/2 (32-bit FAST/32-bit CHIP) Meg of on-board space is probably the biggest difference from the 2500/30 (4/1 Meg 32-bit FAST/16-bit CHIP) from a current performance point of view. The real magic in the A3000 case will probably be in follow ons such as a 68040 board, etc. My machine at work as a flickerFixer, and a NEC MultisyncII. The display on the new monitor look slightly better in the same modes. Some of the new modes are nice, but the highest resolution (SuperHiRes) modes are hard to get useable. So a real (hardware) read is about a factor of two improvement in video bandwidth. The OS makes much better use of what is there however, so it feels like a higher resolution display. The magic there is three (count-em three) fonts individually selectable for the workbench: One for window and screen header bars (make it a 15-point proportional font), one for labelling icons (make it a much smaller proportional font), and one for text windows (stick with the default, they did improve topaz). But enough about the hardware. I have spent a lot of my life building compilers. This is the first OS (AmigaDOS 2.0) that I have seen where I would do most, if not all of my programming using scripts! Between the AREXX support, links, and the improvements to alias and assign, it is possible to do OOP in scripts. I am even tempted to build a SDTS (Syntax directed translation scheme) tool to build your own script language. My guess is we are seeing the first true "personal" computer. Already, nobody uses the defaults. With this OS, personalized environments will be the norm. To sum up, I would not buy a A3000 to replace a 2500 or full-up 2000, but it does seem to retire the A1000, and the A500, to the role of game machines. So I will keep my work machine (and upgrade with a 030 board, the 68020 is now obsolete hardware...), and buy a A3000 for home. I get the best of both worlds, but in either case, for any serious work AmigaDOS 2.0 is going to be it! Forget Unix. Even though the A3000 is going to be a killer Unix box, very few people who have one will use it that way. At work I currently use one of several Sun's (from my Amiga) when I need a Unix box, and X doesn't require the graphics display to be on the same machine... Robert I. Eachus Amiga 3000 - The hardware makes it great, the software makes it awesome, and the price will make it ubiquitous. -- Robert I. Eachus with STANDARD_DISCLAIMER; use STANDARD_DISCLAIMER; function MESSAGE (TEXT: in CLEVER_IDEAS) return BETTER_IDEAS is...