#Atari ST/OS9-68K
18 messages in this thread
This may be old new (have not been keeping up too well lately) but has
everyone heard that OS9-68K is out on the Atari ST now? While certainly good
new for the ST owner (and Atari in general) it is bad news for Amiga. OS9 is
probably the most popular OS in Europe and that will give the ST a new edge.
73, bill
Bill,
I'm not so sure OS9 will or won't give the ST any sort of edge over the
Amiga, but what do you think will happen when UNIX becomes available for the
Amiga (hint)?
Don
Are you just blowing smoke or have you heard something about UNIX for the
Amiga? UNIX is the operating system I use most at work and this would help me
for development. I have seen a coprocessor card from NEC (or was it National
Systems) with a 32bit processor and Unix SVR2 for the PC/XT/AT, but at ~$3000,
its a little out of my reach. What have you got up your sleeve (I saw his
hands leave his arms)?
David Masterson
David,
No, I'm not blowing smoke, but there is no firm information other than
the fact that a UNIX port is being looked at. I can say this, until the Amiga
gets some form of an MMU…you'll not see UNIX on the Amiga. That means that
at a minimum, you'll need something like CBM's 68020 card when it hits the
stores. That's not expected until sometime next year. I also wouldn't be
surprised if the total upgrade to UNIX for the Amiga costs in the same price
category thou ($3000). The '020 card alone will probably cost in the $2000
range.
Don
I've seen you mention the $2000 possible price tag for the CBM '020 card a
couple of times now. Just for comparison, is CSA selling an A2000 card with an
'020, how does it compare, and what's its price? Any rumblings in that arena
about Unix?
David
David,
First of all, just so no one reading this thread gets confused, the
$2000 price estimate is _my_ estimate, not anyone else's nor is it in any way
official, semi-official or otherwise from CBM.
I haven't seen enought information on CSA's stuff for the A2000 to give
any reasonable information on it. I've heard rumblings of a UNIX port for over
a year now, but figure it's going to take a stable environment both software
and hardware before it will come to life. The A2000 seems like it is that
environment….but I'd guess anyone comtemplating a UNIX port would want to
wait for 6 months or so to see what, if anything, is going to change.
Unfortunately, the changes from the original expansion specs to Zorro
to A2000 Zorro didn't help in this area. Supposedly they were for the good of
the Amiga, and at this point, I'd tend to agree with that…but it did make
hardware manufacturers shaky about developing for the Amiga.
Don
I did hear is semi-officially from CBM that it was about $2000. Whatever
semi-officially means, I don't know.
Just read on Usenet that someone had gotten Minix to work on an Amiga.
The bad news is that they did it on the PC side of an A2000, but the good news
is they didn't have any problems (d**n). If it only it worked on a 68000
architecture… <sigh>
David Masterson
Don:
WHEN? You bet. That would really be a 'shot in the Arm' for the Ami,
many of the 'serious' computer types have already picked up the Ami since they
could not stand to be without their multitasking. Of course a second effect
would be to divide the users yet again (totally incompatable operating systems)
but then DEC does still seem to be surviving. 73, bill
Bill,
I left what information I have in an earlier message, but to quickly go
over it…you won't see UNIX until you see an MMU. You won't see that until
you see something like CBM's '020 card. All that meaning you won't even have
the possibility until sometime next year. If I had to take a _wild_ guess, I'd
probably say not until next Summer for anything in the way of a UNIX for the
Amiga. And I could be _way_ off in that esitmate.
Don
What's an MMU?
Terry,
A Memory Management Unit…a specialized chip that keeps one program
from using memory that has been allocated to another program.
Don
What's the asking price on OS/9 for ST? Fifty dollars?
<choke, gag> $50!!! Good luck Thomas! The developers version is about $700
and the plain system is around $300 (don't be too quick about quoting me since
I don't have the brocure with me). The developers version includes 'C' and the
other include 'Basic.' Beyond that I don't know too much about it.
73, bill
I thought that since AmigaDOS 1.2 was $14.95, that this OS/9 would have to be
no more than three times as expensive (rounding up). The way folks talk about
it makes me curious.
Thomas:
OS9 is an old and mature operating system that has been a multitasker
for many years. A port to the Ami would probably be real tough but only
because the hardware is so advanced. By the way the commercial version is
about $150 (on 10X <grin>). 73, bill
OS9 is multitasking, multiuser, supports re-entrancy for loaded commands and
modules, and provides all this to the ST, which had none of it. It also takes
away the ICON interface. OS9 has always been pretty expansive (It was 100.00
for the CoCo, and that was certainly a minimal implementation) The people
behind OS9 think of it as a professional level product. I think that's where
the price comes from, as well as the functionality. WB1.2, while a very good
set of bug fixes and new features, didn't add anything like multitasking or
multiuser. We always had the former, and the latter is sort of a questionable
point, but it didn't change with the update. CBM had us pay for our power up
front. Perhaps that's another factor in the price difference? Just thinking out
loud (click, click) <grin> –Ben–
Bill,
Have you priced OS9 on the ST? A full system (OS, compilers, etc.) is
about $600. They have been shipping it for several months now and almost no
one is getting it due to the cost. People also aren't very thrilled by the
almost complete loss of the "standard" ST interface. OS9 doesn't have much
support for windows, mice, etc. and people who buy the ST expect them. Just
like Amiga owners expect to be able to use their mouse in a program.
IDRIS (Whitesmith's Unix(tm) clone) is about to be released on the ST.
And the response is probably going to be the same since it's going to sell for
about $800.
I wouldn't worry too much about what Atari is or isn't doing or what is
or isn't being developed/released for it. The Amiga has to make it on it's own
merits not by continually reacting to what other companies are thought to be
doing.
Dan