Amiga OS 3.5OS3.1 - OS3.5 - OS5dev - OS5prod - Support - Screenshots
This web-page will try to describe how Amiga software will look like in the future. The emphasis of this page is on the new versions of the Amiga Operative Systems(OS), namely Amiga OS5dev and Amiga OS5prod. However, it is possible that this web-page will also include description of software that will be available on the new versions of operative systems. The first part of this page will cover the facts about Amiga Inc's plans for the Amiga OS. Next part will try to go beyond the plans that are released and describe rumors and speculations about the operative system.
Today, most of Amiga users use Amiga OS 3.0 or 3.1. This version of the OS provided a lot of useful features when it came and still to day have many nice features that does not exist in other OS's (as Windows95, MacOS and Unix). The support for localization and datatypes are features that no other OS provide today. Although this is nice, Amiga OS 3.1 has not been update the last couple of years. This means that the user interface is not state-of-the-art anymore and support for external hardware and network services are not supported the way they are in Windows95 and MacOS. Other important features Amiga OS is lacking of is support for process control and virtual memory. Amiga OS 3.X and older is now defined as "Amiga Classic".
Amiga OS 3.5First Amiga Inc said that no version 3.5 would be produced for Amiga classic machines, but this has changed recently. Now Amiga Inc will produce Amiga OS 3.5 together with a lot of sub-contractors. The OS 3.5 will bring the Classic Amiga to a noble end by providing full support for all the graphics, sound, and PowerPC co-processor expansions availeble. Amiga OS 3.5 will require at least a CD-ROM drive, a hard drive, 68020 or higher processor, Amiga 3.1 ROMs and 4 MB Fast RAM. The main features of Amiga OS 3.5 is: ReTargetable Graphics card support, ReTargetable Audio card support, Internet Enabled, Enhanced Printing, Enhanced File System, CD File System, Arexx Update, New Shell Features and Extended Commands, Improved Graphical User Interface, PowerPC Co-processor Support and better User Documentation. More information about Amiga OS 3.5 can be found on Amiga Inc's own Amiga OS 3.5 webpage.
The next version of Amiga OS will be Amiga OS5dev and it is planned that it will be released in
November 1998. This new version of the OS will include features as memory protection, SMP, updated
hardware support (PCI, AGP, DVD), updated GUI, advanced multimedia support, network support etc. Note
that Amiga OS5dev is only transition version of the OS and will not be very useful for end-users. The
main intention for Amiga OS5dev is to let developers gradually migrate software from Amiga OS3.1, MS
Windows and MACOS to Amiga OS5dev. The kernel of the operative system will be based on both Amiga OS
as well as possibly Linux, Java or BeOS. To be able to run old Amiga classic software there are two ways
of doing this. The first solution is to simulate old Amiga hardware using UAE or similar emulators. This
solution is rather slow but cheap way of doing it, but for a fast computer it should be sufficient. UAE's
compability with old Amiga classic software is rather good and is improving day by day. The second solution
to the backward compability problem is to use Siamese "Amiga on a PCI board". This is a hardware solution
that is much faster but also more expencive. These two solutions should be sufficient to insure the backward
compability with old Amiga software.The picture to the right shows a possible Graphical User Interface for Amiga OS5dev (taken from here). Click on this image to see a larger version of it. A graphical presentation of a possible architecture for the new OS is shown in the figure below. |
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Note that this architecture is not Amiga Inc's official architecture. This is only a speculation of how a possible architecture for the next generation Amiga OS could look like!
The first level in the architecture is a layer which makes the
OS hardware independent (can be ported on different types of hardware). This layer is based on
Hardware Independent Device Drivers (HIDDs) as well as a Mach 3 Kernel (hardware independent operative
system kernel). Note that in the hardware abstraction layer you will also have libraries well know
from the Amiga OS.
The next layer is the OS layer which will consist of different interfaces for the applications. You
will have a OS3.X compatible interface to ensure backwards compability, a Java interface, a new
Amiga 4.0 interface as well as a Unix based application interface. The different application
interfaces will make it easier to port application to Amiga OS4.0 (Unix applications, Amiga
applications as well as Java applications).
The Amiga OS5dev will not run on current Amigas or PowerPC Amigas. The only way you can have an
Amiga as well as run Amiga OS5dev is to buy a Siamese System. Amiga OS5dev will only run at
PC hardware. This is because the simulator for the new Super chip the Amiga OS5prod is based on
runs only on PC. Remember that Amiga OS5dev is only a temporary step to Amiga OS5prod.
The Amiga OS Version 5.0 will be the big release of Amiga OS to the end-users. The Amiga 5.0 will
run on new and super fast Amiga hardware that is under planning and development.
The new Amiga hardware is based on a new power chip that should be 5-10 times faster
than the fastest Pentium processor today and have incredible powers when it comes to multimedia, 3D and graphics
processing. The planned date for releasing Amiga OS version 5.0 and the new hardware is late 1999. It will not be
possible to run Amiga OS5prod on existing Amigas when it is released, but Amiga INC has said that is is possible that
Amiga OS5prod can be ported to PPC/680X0. If the hardware of the new Amiga is many times as powerful and not to expensive,
I guess most of us will buy a new computer anyway...
The target for Amiga OS5prod is not only for personal computers, but also for other electronical devices as network
computer, video-games, set-top devices etc.
Features that will be provided in Amiga OS Version 5.0:
This section will list the software that will come for Amiga NG OE 5.0.
In general, all software that runs on Linux and Java will also run on Amiga OE.
GAMES:
The version of the Amiga OS, will have a graphical user interface(GUI) that is modular. This means that it is possible
to tailor and use different styles of user interfaces for different purposes. For instance, it is possible to use
one GUI-style for games, one for internet related devices etc. The screenshots below shows possible GUI-styles for
the new Amiga operating system: (the images are courtesy of Amiga Inc.
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What Amiga Inc used to call Amiga OS 4.0 is now called
Amiga OS5dev and Amiga OS 5.0 is now called Amiga OS5prod.