CompuServe Messages

Harry, Considering that the Amiga 3000 will run one of the better (if not THE best) Unix implmentation on a micro, and that Unix and C complement each other no end, the Amiga is a much better choice. In fact, there is evidence that the Amiga 3000 will be ursurping the Mac in the college setting due to the superior Unix implementation; Virginia Tech has already made the switch from Apple to Amiga, and if the comparison made in the December issue of Byte is any indication, then the NeXT may also see the same movement toward the Amiga. Even without Unix, the Amiga is fully multitasking, relatively Unix-like in it's Shell/console interface; These are important advantages when dealing with C compilers, and the Mac lacks both. Video isn't a clear-cut comparison.. In order for a Mac to surpass the Amiga in video, it would have to be with 24-bit graphics, an extremely expensive proposition. Even then, 24-bit video on the Amiga is becoming increasingly popular (the VideoToaster, for example) in the high-end, and several intermediate adaptors, such as HAM-E, provide 18-bit color (out of a 24-bit palette) AND realtime animation as well as high software compatability. The all Amigas come standard with 12-bit NTSC-compatible color video; The average board in an SE (if any) is 8-bit video and totally non-conforming to NTSC video. As for animation, you are then dealing with something which, to an Amiga user, is a joke on the Mac. Often, when Mac animation is practiced, it's a limited parody of the same application on the Amiga, usually substituting what would be real computer animation on the Amiga, for a section of a re-recorded laserdisk which is played on a seperate monitor than the computer's. In contrast, the Amiga easily accomplishes realtime animation and the video is also easily combined with tape and videodisk into a coherent display. Even when alot of money is thrown at it, realtime animation isn't, ummm, a reality on the Mac. The Amiga comes with a Multitasking GUI operating system as [ MORE ]