Amiga
Written by Michael Lankton Sunday, 18 October 2009 13:57
Despite having a troubled history over the course of the last 15 years, the Amiga platform has an extraordinarily loyal and active community on the internet. There is an active and excellent Amiga emulation scene for those wanting to experience the classic Amiga system. Amiga web forums abound. The official Amiga OS is on its second revision in the 4.x tree and is currently in active development. MorphOS is another modern operating system that is very Amiga-minded, and has its own following. AROS is a clean slate redesign of Amiga OS 3.1 for x86 and other platforms. The problem with all of the above in terms of attracting new users to the platform is the obscure hardware needed to run the system, or in AROS case, the unfinished state that it is currently in.
The main obstacle faced by the official Amiga platform in recent years has been the legal dispute between Hyperion, the developers of Amiga OS 4.x, and Amiga Inc., the caretakers of the Amiga brand. Hyperion has just announced that the court case has been resolved, overwhelmingly in Hyperion's favor. The decision gives Hyperion control over the legacy Amiga OS 3.1 code and puts them firmly in the driver seat regarding the present and future course of Amiga OS.
This is great news for Amiga enthusiasts, and promises the possibility that the Amiga could once again become a viable, active platform. There's a reason the Amiga presence is as strong as it is after so many years of uncertainty and questionable moves by the people controlling the future of the brand: it's a great system. Hyperion has been hinting that a big announcement is coming. Speculation ranges from a new hardware platform to a port to x86. Whatever direction they choose, the path is now clear for them to drive the Amiga platform forward in the way they see fit. Hopefully they will prove to be conscientious caretakers of the Amiga brand and its future.
