#Pleasance's New Amiga
5 messages in this thread
Everyone thinks they want a RISC processor. They don't.
Why?
Because. When you change microprocessors, you add an emulation layer
whenever you run older software. A 100MHz MIPS RISC machine achieves
similar performance to a 16 MHz 386SX when running 16-bit Windows
applications under Windows NT. A 100MHz RISC Amiga would likely run
older Amiga software at A500-level performance. A1200 if the
emulation stuff was done really well and calls to the system software
were handled with native RISC code.
So you're going to want to buy all native-mode RISC software for the
machine to get good performance, rather than taking advantage of the
emulation and moving your old Amiga software over.
If you're buying all new software anyway, then you're essentially
performing a platform switch and you might as well look at all the
other options. Suddenly the number of people upgrading drops
significantly.
A 68060 Amiga would be a much better bet, IMHO, than a RISC machine
which wouldn't benefit your older software and would likely cause
some compatibility nightmares.
IMEO.
You mean that the Amiga OS can't be pipied to a RISC processor
without involving NT? I really wouldn't expect 'older' s/w to run any
faster, and I'd be happy to u/g my current power s/w to the next
level of h/w.
I thoght one of the main things with new CPU's like PowerPC and Alpha
were that they could easily and efficiently run older OS's.
What the E stand for in IMEO?
And, I totally agree with your post! But unfortunately, for what I
want to do, It would be preferable to have the RISC for multiple
emulations. (I have to program the "other" machines too.)
PMJI…
Interesting comment from the Newtek bosses interviewed in the latest Video
Toaster User magazine, to the effect that Commodore is in "far better
shape" than Amiga owners realize; that the company has been in these
straits before and that new product coming along (unspecified, of course,
in the interview) will bolster C='s position. The duo said both Newtek and
C= think the Amiga's future at least in the US will be in the desktop
video niche. They also their relations with C= are at a high, and the
company is making the right moves. Hype? They sounded confident as usual.
I agree with you on RISC. The 68040 is a pretty powerful chip, especially
when supported with coprocessors. A 68060 ought to provide a platform
that's more than enough for most people while providing downward
compatibility. That said, "RISC" may become a marketing necessity, just
like "Windows."
— Ron Legro from Milwaukee via AUTOPILOT
(The only way to fly)
I just got OEM Computing magazine that has an ad from Motorola
advertising it's entire line of 68xxxx processors. It showed a chart
of how the 68060 outperforms both the Pentium and the PC601. 68xxx
machine code benchmarks show an increase of 5x the performance of a
40Mhz 040 with a 25Mhz '060. Very interesting information….
availability Q4CY93 (before years end)