Mark Weaver <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: (09/05/2002 11:55) >James Sparenberg wrote: >> Over 10 years on computers.... not always nix (I miss my Amiga *grin*) >> >> James > >I've been hearing a lot about Amigas and invariably the people always >say they miss them. What was so special about them that they're so >sorely missed? I wouldn't know an Amiga computer if I fell over one.
They were way ahead of their time and, in some ways, still are: - the entire OS fits on an 0.5MB ROM (so booting is instantaneous); - extensive use of custom chips to handle graphics, sound etc (no kludges or compromises over time as the design was 'perfect' to begin with, and no driver problems as the hardware is well defined); - dazzling speed from a 'feeble' 68000 both because of an optimal division of labour between CPU and custom chips and because (I believe) some of the OS, at least, was written in assembly language; - although not Linux-based the command line was very powerful, far beyond DOS or similar, and offered things such as scripting languages (eg REXX) which were unheard of in home computers at the time; - some of the things the graphics chip can do, such as dividing a screen into segments of different resolution and scrolling them differentially, aren't really possible even nowadays with high-end PC graphics cards; - because of the comprehensiveness of the ROM and its APIs packages are small (you're struggling to find one over 200-300KB). Granted, some things (such as resolutions, colour depths and the appearance of the user interface) have fallen behind, but these are relatively easy problems to fix compared with trying to glue together a bad architecture ... Alastair ________________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com ________________________________________________________________________
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