No Commodore but real USA
If you come from an Amiga background and want to know about the similarities and differences between AmigaOS 3.1 and MorphOS, I recommend you to read the guide: MorphOS in 5 minutes – a brief introduction for users familiar with the Commodore Amiga by Ulrich Beckers. It explains it better than I ever could.
It’s a much more difficult task to explain to someone who has never used an Amiga at all of what makes MorphOS appealing to some. I myself comes from an Amiga background so for me it’s „obvious“. But after thinking about it a little, one have to realise that there was something appealing in the original AmigaOS that made people switch to it from other existing OS’s. So I made a little list of what I think, in a nutshell, makes MorphOS my choice of OS (though I use Windows for all the tasks MorphOS can’t do)…
Погледај оригинални чланак 1.542 more words
While Amiga Community was known as resilliance,
off course Amiga is hardware that runs AmigaOS or alike.
So it said seeing CUSA trolls trying to built kind of their community,
on spitting real Amiga community. Newest example comes from infamous Amig4Be blog
in Italian only. Here is poor Google translate:
Let ‘then what kind of consistency is that these … OS4 fanboy operating systems known as Amiga OS are as follows: 1 ) the Workbench Commodore release from 1.x to 3.0 ( 68k ) (later upgraded to 3.1) 2 ) Amiga OS 3.5 and 3.9 ( 68k ) (from 3.5 Workbench again became the name of the only desktop environment, and the OS renamed AmigaOS) 3 ) AmigaOS 4.x ( PowerPC ) (all versions produced by Hyperion for a range of ppc)
fact OS4 was preceded by two systems operating analogues as Aros and Morphos, the first designed with farsightedness order not to depend so pinched by a particular hardware architecture and the other for PPC systems such as the Apple Mac G4 …
If you want to make it a matter of „belief“ or „sentimental“ … ok … but feelings do not alter the objective results of the bench and do not lead to a discount on the final price (anzi. .. can lead to price out all logic of the market, including trends, such as the absurd AmigaOne x1000 showed)
Lorianos Amiga 500 design is
Now also in sexy black
This is my latest design; the X500 PLUS is a tribute to the computers of the ’80s and ’90s and generally inspired by the great Commodore Amiga 500. It’s an aluminium and plastic case with in-built, low profile USB keyboard. It offers space for a mini-itx or flex-ATX board, space for two 2.5″ SSDs or HDDs, it’s only 58mm high, it comes with a slim DVD-RW or Blu-Ray drive (on request), a 3.5″ USB card reader, a 40mm silent fan, and it’s also got a low profile expansion slot (for graphics cards for example). The X500 Plus allows you to build your own powerful computer, running AmigaOS, Windows, Linux, AROS etc…you can use it for your mini-itx x86 boards, PowerPC SAM boards by ACube, Raspberry pi, Natami, FPGAArcade etc…
Ideal for low power consumption mini-itx boards, requires a picoPSU 80-160W (not included).
Thanks to Klaus Badelt for the incredible music!
Have fun and thank you for watching!
See Article on design
http://a-eon.com/?news=21-10-2012
Finally, Libre Office is finally announced for AmigaoS 4
Its a giant step since no such productivity tool is avail for AmigaOS
Libre Office Development Announced
Sacramento, 21st October 2012
A-EON Technology funds development of Libre Office for AmigaOS 4
A-EON Technology is pleased to announce that porting of Libre Office to the latest AmigaOS has commenced.
This project, which will benefit all AmigaOS 4 users, is being exclusively funded by A-EON Technology.
Libre Office is an open source office suite which descended from OpenOffice.org and is commonly used on many modern computer platforms.
A-EON’s Matthew Leaman commented, “This development enhances the range of productivity software available to AmigaOS 4. It is in line with our ongoing commitment to provide quality products for our customers.“
Yes, its old, its 31March 2012, but its rare AmigaOS 4 developers give public interviews 🙂
To the surprise of many, the Amiga operating system endures, with developers continuing to eye new features for the venerable OS. We caught up with AmigaOS 4’s lead developer to talk about the system’s survival.
The Cult of Apple is well known. People are not shocked to see massive lines outside Apple stores in the lead-up to the latest iDevice launch. But before that there was the Cult of Apple, back when the company was still Apple Computer Inc. there was the Cult of Mac, whose members, in the face of overwhelming Wintel dominance, doggedly refused to let go of what was then considered a doomed platform.
The Cult of Mac’s birth can be traced to the release of the first Macintosh in 1984. With its fancy GUI, it was a revolutionary computer. But it wasn’t the only historically significant personal computer released during the ’80s. Nor was it the only one to evoke fierce loyalty among its fans. The 1980s also witnessed the birth of the Cult of Amiga, with the first Amiga system — the Amiga 1000 — released in 1985. Like the Macintosh, it was a revolutionary personal computer.
And amazingly, like the Macintosh, the Amiga endures — at least in a form. The Amiga operating system continues to be developed by Belgian software company Hyperion Entertainment, and an ecosystem of vendors are still creating hardware for the system.
The Amiga was originally produced by Commodore, which went bankrupt in the mid-1990s. A series of legal twists and turns culminated in 2009, when a settlement was reached between Amiga Inc. and Hyperion Entertainment. „I am not a lawyer but my understanding is that Amiga inc. retains ownership of AmigaOS 3.1 and earlier while Hyperion owns the changes it has made since,“ says AmigaOS 4 lead developer Steven Solie.
Some may notice that AmigaOS 3.5 and 3.9 are left out. Those releases were done by a contractor named Haage and Partner which is still in business today. The sources to those releases remain with H&P… Hyperion had to rewrite any of the components it wanted from those releases for the 4.x series.“
The reason Amiga has managed to endure is simple: It’s „purely because of the fans“, says Solie. „Without them, the commercial investment would have already dried up. There are commercial companies still investing in AmigaOS such as ACube Systems, A-EON Technology and Hyperion Entertainment itself.“
Image: Amigaos.net
Hyperion Entertainment has two full time developers dedicated to the OS, with other developers being either contractors or volunteers. „The Open Amiga organisation has many examples of projects being developed outside the core team for possible inclusion in the OS itself.“
„It is a true the vast majority of companies have long left the platform. But the core group of fans is what still keeps things going,“ says Solie.
Although Hyperion has been using serial numbers for copies of AmigaOS since 4.0, it won’t reveal sales numbers. Solie’s „personal guess“ is that the system has 2000-5000 users.
„If you include all the various Amiga clones and emulators we would probably be talking about around 10,000 users [in] total,“ he adds. „It is really difficult to judge because a majority of the users are rather quiet.
„That said, I think there are still tens of thousands that still remember the Amiga in general. The brand itself is still quite strong to this day. So if you are talking about potential users, we are still looking at quite a large pool.“
AmigaOS 4.0, which was released in October 2004 (AmigaOS 4.1 Update 4 was released in December 2011), is based off the 3.1 source code. Unlike the original version of the OS it runs on the PowerPC architecture; Amigas originally used Motorola 68k CPUs.
„The good news [with building off the 3.1 source] is you don’t have to waste time cloning and reverse engineering everything — that’s just a vast waste of time,“ Solie says. „The bad news is some of that code is 68k assembly and is in no shape to run on a modern PowerPC hardware platform.
Image: Amigaos.net
„New hardware models are currently made by ACube Systems. Their models include the AmigaOne 500 (Sam460ex based), Sam440ep and Sam440ep-flex. I use an AmigaOne 500 as my primary system and it is quite capable.
„A-EON Technology recently starting shipping its flagship model the AmigaOne X1000. The X1000 currently runs a preliminary version of AmigaOS. Demand for the X1000 was so great that A-EON needed it shipped as soon as possible. If all goes well, the X1000 will be the first Amiga system ever to support multiple cores as well.“
In October Hyperion Entertainment announced an AmigaOS-based netbook. „Nothing much has been heard since then regarding the netbook but we do know it already runs AmigaOS.“
„There are all sorts of rumours of additional hardware platforms and form factors from these companies,“ Solie says. „Hyperion is always on the lookout to increase its user base of course so any new hardware platforms that come along are seriously considered.
„You can still purchase brand new hardware and software from a small network on dealers. Most dealers deal with both the original Amiga hardware as well as the new stuff.
„It is a pretty tight community of users, dealers and developers.“
The process for companies wanting to develop Amiga-friendly hardware normally involves a vendor contacting Hyperion when they have a new idea and negotiating an agreement to have AmigaOS ported. „The hardware providers usually provide the firmware; Hyperion provides the HAL [hardware abstraction layer] and of course the OS itself,“ Solie says. „Hardware drivers are written by either side of the equation or even third party contractors and volunteers.
„Hyperion’s developers have provided input into new hardware developments in the past. Ultimately, it is up to the hardware developers to do what they think is best of course.“
Although the system remains closed source, since Solie took the role of AmigaOS Development Team Lead back in late 2010 he has made an effort to build a sense of community around the project, increasing communication between the AmigaOS team, the system’s user base and other developers.
„Up until recently, all communication was rather one way, with community websites picking up the slack,“ he says. „Now, we have a development blog, informational website, a support forum and a documentation wiki.“ These resources are primarily maintained by volunteers, but Hyperion provides servers and bandwidth. „The Amiga community is what keeps AmigaOS alive and kicking,“ Solie says.
There „have been plans“ to move to a semi-open or open source model for development. „However, given the complex history of source code ownership this isn’t something you can rush into,“ Solie says.
„In the meantime, I have been trying hard to increase the number of developers and their involvement any way I can,“ he adds. „For example, some third party developers are given special access to the development team for questions and support.“
Solie’s first Amiga was the Amiga 1000. It was the first Amiga released by Commodore; it debuted in 1985, running a Motorola 68000 processor. „My last 68k-based Amiga was an A3000 which I used while earning my bachelor’s degree,“ he says. „For my final project I actually developed an OSI-based protocol stack which ran on two Amiga 3000s and used Ethernet. I remember the Ethernet cards costing a fortune back then.“
„My first PowerPC-based Amiga system was an AmigaOne-XE by Eyetech. I was asked to join the beta testing team by Amiga Inc. back in the day. Over time, I took on more responsibility and had the chance to work on the OS source code itself.
„I was then asked by Hyperion to become the ‘AmigaOS Development Team Lead’ (a title I made up) to herd the cats if you will. I don’t get a lot of time to code these days but I am still enjoying the experience.“
Solie has heard of „pockets“ of people using AmigaOS 4 for commercial work, but these days Amigas are primarily used by hobbyists. „It used to be that production studios used Amiga systems to create cutting edge graphics. Those days are long gone. This is purely for the fun of it now.“
„I find primarily long-term fans still invest in AmigaOS and the Amiga hobby in general,“ he adds. „We also see some new customers returning to try out AmigaOS on the brand new PowerPC hardware platforms which are still available. Since the launch of the AmigaOS website, there have been a lot of people poking around and some go so far as to invest in some hardware.
„Once in a while we also see a brand new customer. Somebody completely new to the AmigaOS, i.e. young, and looking for something different. Since AmigaOS lacks applications, new guys can create a few applications and be treated like a rock star.
„There is a bit of money to be made as well in terms of donations and bounties. I think it is the instant fame and attention new user and developers receive is what convinces them to stay — again, the fans.
„The main draw is simplicity. AmigaOS is simple enough to be understandable and controllable without having to resort to experts all the time.“
„What we have done is take the original designs and extend them where it makes sense. For example, the original Amiga shared library system is quite functional but also totally incompatible with everything else out there. Platforms like Windows can get away with this because they have a huge army of coders willing to do the necessary work to convert everything over to their systems.
„Instead, AmigaOS introduced a new shared object [.so] system which allows for the direct compilation of shared object libraries which are quite common. Of course, we would prefer developers use Amiga shared libraries but when you are the underdog, you sometimes need to bend the rules a bit to keep developers productive. Life is too short to rewrite libraries again and again just because your OS of choice is too stubborn to adapt.“
The original systems for AmigaOS 4.0 were sold by Eyetech, and Solie said used models, such as the AmigaOne-XE and MicroA1-C, are still available. „There is also the Pegasos 2 created by bplan out of Germany which can run AmigaOS 4.1,“ he says.
Solie says the AmigaOS team is happy to borrow ideas from other operating systems. „For example, the memory subsystem borrowed the idea of slab allocation for memory management. The integration of Python into the operating system was also a borrowed idea.“
Other operating systems can also learn from AmigaOS, he says. Primarily, „keep things simple and respond when the user clicks on something. One reason I keep returning to AmigaOS is because it is relatively simple.
„As more features are added it is difficult to keep things simple and efficient, but so far so good.“
Solie can envisage a future where AmigaOS 4 shifted away from PowerPC to another platform. „However, there is also a lot of life left in PowerPC,“ he says, and switching hardware platforms is no guarantee of success for the system.
„I think a successful system is a combination of functionality, applications, operating system and supporting hardware all for an acceptable cost. If your target market is the hobbyist market then perhaps PPC isn’t as bad as people think. It really depends on the fans and what they will accept.“
Image: Amigaos.net
One gap he identifies in AmigaOS as it is now is good support for printing. PostScript printers are fine — but otherwise „you are in for a world of hurt“. A system like CUPS, which made printing on Linux systems a less daunting prospect, would be great, he says.
Hyperion is currently working on AmigaOS 4.1 Update 5 is in the works now. „AmigaOS 4.2 will come later on which will introduce hardware accelerated 3D support, a vastly improved file system API and many other features,“ Solie says. The list of features that Solie would like to see added is „endless“. A modern file system is one feature, and multi-core support, which is currently being worked on, is another.
„I don’t imagine AmigaOS will ever become mainstream again,“ he says. „It is not that I am being defeatist. I’m just trying to be realistic. There are dozens of operating systems out there that are not mainstream and never will be.
Image: Amigaos.net
„There isn’t a huge amount of new hardware coming out to run AmigaOS but it is a steady flow. Keep your eye on ACube and A-EON because I don’t think they are stopping any time soon.
„So for me at least, as long as AmigaOS remains fun to use I will continue to use it. It is a nice break from the grind of business where Unix and Windows rule.“
As to whether an AmigaOS 5.0 will ever be released, „it all depends on the fans.“
Rohan Pearce is the editor of Techworld Australia. Contact him at rohan_pearce at idg.com.au.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure_Suit_Larry_in_the_Land_of_the_Lounge_Lizards
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is the alliterative title to a graphic adventure game first released in1987, the first part of the Leisure Suit Larry series.[1] Originally developed for DOS and the Apple II, it was later ported to other platforms such as the Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS and the TRS-80 Color Computer. It utilizes the Adventure Game Interpreter(AGI) engine made famous by King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown.
Set in the fictional city of Lost Wages, the story follows middle-aged salesman Larry Laffer as he tries to „get lucky“ (more alliteration). „Land of the Lounge Lizards“ establishes several elements which recur in later games, including Larry’s campy attire, perpetual bad luck with women,and penchant for double-entendres. The story and basic structure of the game are lifted from Softporn Adventure, an 1981 Apple II text adventure
In 1991, Sierra released a remake that used the Sierra’s Creative Interpreter (SCI) engine with 256 colors and icon-driven (as opposed to text-based) interface.[1][3] A second, high-definition remake is currently under development by Replay Games (working with series creator Al Lowe) for planned release on Windows (via Steam and On-Live), Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Linux.
Trevor /A-EON has posted some info on RadeonHD 7000 series drivers on his blog
Conviniently, HDRLab has posted two new AmigaOS RadeonHD previews
The power of 7?
Number 7
What is it with the number 7? Is it to do with the pillars of wisdom, colours in a rainbow, number of days in a week, Samurai, layers of the OSI model or even the number of deadly sins? 
. According to Michael Wu of Halo fame it’s „cause that’s the best number. It’s like rock. Nothing beats rock or 7“. When it come to AmigaOS 4 drivers for the Radeon HD graphics cards the number 7 is the „Holy Grail“.
You will be pleased to hear that I have been testing Hans de Ruiter’s (OS4 graphics guru) latest Radeon HD drivers and all I can reveal is that the results have put me in 7th heaven. 
The drivers have now been released to the AmigaONE X1000 beta test team for final checkout and with luck should be available for registered users to download from the A-EON website in the near future. Watch this space.
For the latest AmigaOS 4 Radeon HD drivers please visit: Radeon HD Divers – AmigaOS 4
All graphics cards are created equal, but some are more equal than others!
Half height Radeon HD card
I’ve been testing a lot of Radeon HD graphics cards from the 4xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx and 7xxx series (yes 7xxx series!) in my AmigaONE X1000. One thing I’ve discovered is that not all graphics cards are created equal despite the specification written on the box. They come in all shapes and sizes with various fan and heat-sink arrangements which are either aesthetically pleasing of just plain ugly. Some models start up like jet engines while others are quieter than a mouse.
Passively cooled Rade0n HD card
A few appear to have long initialization times, while other boot up in the blink of an eye. Some cards are svelte, single slot models but many take up two slots. Personally I prefer passively cooled cards and there are suitable cards throughout the Radeon HD series. Fortunately, our good friends at AmigaKit are only stocking Radeon HD graphics cards which have been tested with the AmigaONE X1000 and Sam460 systems.
For more information please visit: AmigaKit’s Website
http://www.kickstart…ocumentary-film
http://www.youtube.com/user/vivaamiga
http://www.amigafilm.com/Site/Viva_Amiga_-_The_Documentary_Film.html
http://www.amigafilm.com/Site/Pre-Ordering.html
A talented team of Filmmakers are putting together a film documenting the Rise and Fall of the Amiga. They just need a little help with funding. Please read on.
You can make a difference today by pledging a small donation to make this happen.
KickStarter is a well-respected site that helps small projects get off the ground and has backed many 1000s of projects across the globe since its inception in 2009.
This is a unique opportunity to purchase a DVD charting the entire history of the Amiga. There will be familiar faces and interviews shown including the legendary Eric Schwartz; the creator of all those cartoon animations foreinstance Amy the Squirrel and Superfrog you probably watched over and over again when you was in your teens.
This DVD will be both informative and entertaining and will include many exclusive interviews with key figures that made the Amiga possible
Please visit the URL below and make your pledge today, there is absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Thank you for reading
http://www.kickstart…ocumentary-film
Email from the Viva Amiga Team:
Hello everyone!
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been to http://www.amigafilm.com and have seen the trailer, and are likely an Amiga user or general fan. But if that’s not the case, here’s the general pitch:
In 1985, a powerful new kind of computer was born. It was 10 years ahead of its time, and ready to take on Microsoft, IBM and Apple for control of the PC market. The Amiga computer revolutionized video, multimedia and digital art, with Andy Warhol being a big advocate. It was also known for being a fantastic video games machine. Despite the computer’s manufacturer going bankrupt in early 1990’s, the Amiga has a huge cult following worldwide to this day. This film documents the rise and fall of the Amiga in the marketplace, and gives an inside look at the passionate and eccentric community that surrounds it. We’ve got in-depth interviews with the Amiga’s designers, engineers and advocates, and we’ll be shooting even more. This is a compelling and unique documentary, rich with animation and a distinctive style. Viva Amiga is also being written and directed by an Amiga user – me, Zach Weddington! Without the Amiga, I seriously doubt my career in film and animation would be where it is today.
Rather than just ask for donations, we’ve decided to give everyone some cool stuff in return, so take a look at the great rewards we’re offering at the various donation levels. These packages we’re offering now at these prices will only be available to Kickstarter donators, so don’t miss the chance to get this stuff and help fund the film. All donations for packages include shipping!
Your donations will enable us to complete the film. Here are some big names that we’ve already filmed so far:
My long-time friend and expert animator Maksim Bondarev has also just signed on with the film! He’ll be creating 3-D models of all the major Amiga models that will be used for animated sequences in the film…..
…and several other important Amiga journalists, scenesters and engineers too.
Oh yeah, let’s not forget about the kick-ass soundtrack being composed by Amiga mod scene musician Zoë Blade
I want to thank you SO much for your support so far. This project is moving along great now. But we need your help. You may place a pre-order for one of our cool packages or simply donate. We’ve set a goal of $25,000 for pre-orders/donations, but honestly that is the bare minimum we need to pull this off. I’d love to see it soar much higher. The more donations and/or pre-orders we receive, the better the film will be. You have no idea of the costs we will encounter – travel fees, lab/post-production costs, legal fees… it goes on and on. Please help!
So please head on over to our kickstarter.com page and place your pre-order now!
http://www.kickstart…ocumentary-film
The Amiga will never die!
Zach Weddington
Producer, Viva Amiga
Workbench screen in front, web browser screen behind.
Booted from AmigaOS 4.1 Update 1 Live CD.
A visit from the Grim Reaper.
Released for Amigas:
Released for AmigaOne motherboards:
Released for Pegasos systems:
Released for Sam440 systems:
| Version | Release Date | Introduced Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | Developer Pre-release[26] | April 2004 | First public release |
| 4.0 | Developer Pre-release Update[27] | 10 October 2004 | AltiVec support, PowerPC-native Picasso96 and MUI, USB support for input devices |
| 4.0 | Developer Pre-release Update 2[28] | 27 December 2004 | Mass Storage Support for USB |
| 4.0 | Developer Pre-release Update 3[29] | 14 June 2005 | PowerPC native Warp3D drivers for Voodoo 3 (Avenger), Voodoo 4/5 (Napalm) and the Radeon 7×00 series of graphics cards; WarpOS support |
| 4.0 | Developer Pre-release Update 4[30] | 8 February 2006 | Petunia just-in-time 68k emulator; Warp3D with support for Voodoo 3/4/5 and ATI Radeon models 7000, 7200, 7500, 9000, 9200 and 9250; Intuition supports screen dragging |
| 4.0 | The Final Update | 24 December 2006 | Virtualized memory and faster memory allocation system (Slab allocator); new icon theme (Mason icons) |
| 4.0 | July 2007 Update[31] | 18 July 2007 | Support for Shared objects; Python 2.5.1; merge of Tools and Utilities drawers |
| 4.0 | for Classic Amiga[32] | November 2007 | July 2007 Update baseline |
| 4.0 | February 2008 update for CyberStormPPC and BlizzardPPC[33] | 23 February 2008 | Addressed some issues and compatibility problems |
| 4.1 | AmigaOS 4.1 | September 2008 | Memory paging; JXFS filesystem; Hardware compositing engine; Cairo device-independent 2D rendering library[34] |
| 4.1 | Quick Fix[35] | 21 June 2009 | Addressed some issues (Warp 3D drivers, IDE drivers, JXFS) |
| 4.1 | Update 1[36] | 14 January 2010 | Improved compositing effects (fading and drop shadows); New notification system Ringhio; DDC support; AppDir: handler and URLopen; new Startup preferences; new icon set; MiniGL V2.2 |
| 4.1 | Update 2[37] | 30 April 2010 | Updated Python; Cairo 1.8.10 (partial hardware acceleration); AmiDock supports icon scaling |
| 4.1 | Update 3[38] | 29 August 2011 | USB 2.0 (EHCI) support; Updated MUI (for easier porting of MUI 4 applications) |
| 4.1 | Update 4 | 22 December 2011 | Emulation drawer with AmigaOS 3.x ROMs and Workbench files; RunInUAE contribution |
| 4.1 | Update 5 | 28 January 2012, 16 August 2012 | First public release for AmigaOne X1000,[39] later for other platforms.[40] Improved Warp3D and IDE drivers; optimized DMA copy support for Sam440ep and Sam460ex systems; improved Classic compatibility (support for Catweasel) |
,
After Commodore filed for bankruptcy in 1994, its name and IP rights, including Amiga, were sold to Escom. Escom kept the Amiga products and sold the Commodore name on to Tulip. Escom went bankrupt in 1997 and sold the Amiga IP to Gateway 2000 (now only Gateway). On 27 December 1999, Gateway sold the Amiga name and rights to Amino Development,[3] who changed the company name to Amiga Inc once the assets had been acquired. The ‘Amino’ Amiga Inc and the ‘KMOS’ Amiga Inc are seen by Hyperion as legally distinct entities, contracts to one are of no relevance to the other.
Hyperion’s OS4 project
Hyperion Entertainment has released AmigaOS 4 (OS4) to the public in 2004. The five year development process led to accusations of vapourware and producing a modernPowerPC OS, given that Hyperion claimed that they had the original AmigaOS 3.1 source codes to reference (a claim later proven accurate). This was made worse by the apparent much more rapid progress and maturity of competitor and alternative AmigaOS clone MorphOS, which had been begun several years earlier. Perhaps the most important feature of OS4 as regards the legal dispute is the presence of an entirely new PowerPC native kernel. ExecSG replaces the original Amiga Exec is claimed entirely the work and property of Hyperion’s subcontracted developers Thomas and Hans-Joerg Frieden.[4] Neither Amiga Inc nor Hyperion actually own ExecSG, so technically cannot demand or hand it over, leaving the OS with fragmented and confused ownership.
The supposed rebirth of Amiga
AmigaOne X1000 running AmigaOS 4.1
In 2007 The Inquirer reported [5] that the Amiga was inching closer to rebirth with the long-awaited release of AmigaOS 4.0, a new PowerPC-native version of the classic AmigaOS (Motorola 68k) from the 1980s. This new PowerPC OS would run on theAmigaOne machines, now out of production, which could only run Linux while waiting for the new PowerPC OS to be released. The year after, Amiga Inc also announced a new AmigaOS 4 compatible system that would be available shortly.[6] The new machine was neither Genesi’s Efika, nor the project codenamed Samantha, (now known as the Sam440ep from ACube Systems). The new hardware was from a new entrant, the Canadian company ACK Software Controls, and would have consisted of a budget and advanced model.[7]
The dispute
Four days after Amiga Inc announced the new Amiga OS4 (OS4) compatible machines they sued Hyperion Entertainment(Hyperion). Amiga Inc stated that it decided to produce a PowerPC version of AmigaOS in 2001 and on November 3, 2001 they signed a contract with Hyperion, (then a game developer for the 68k Amiga platform as well as Linux and Macintosh). Amiga Inc. gave Hyperion access to the sources of the last Commodore version, AmigaOS 3.1, but access to the post-Commodore versions OS3.5 and 3.9 had to be purchased from the third party responsible for their development since Haage & Parnter (developers of OS 3.5 and 3.9) never returned their AmigaOS source code to Amiga Inc.
Amiga Inc also said that its contract allowed Hyperion to use Amiga trademarks in the promotion of OS4 on Eyetech’s AmigaOne and stipulated that Hyperion should make its best efforts to deliver OS4 by March 1, 2002. A port of an elderly Operating System (68k) for an entirely different processor architecture (PowerPC) in just four months, an optimistic target that Hyperion failed to meet.
According to Amiga Inc, the contract permits the purchase of the full sources of OS4 from Hyperion for US$25,000. The court filing says that Amiga Inc paid this sometime in April–May 2003, to keep Hyperion from going bankrupt, and that between then and November 21, 2006 Amiga Inc paid another $7,200, then $8,850 more which it says Hyperion said was owing.
Furthermore, in the filing, Amiga Inc. President Bill McEwen revealed that Amiga Inc still hasn’t received the sources for OS4, that he’s discovered that much of its development was outsourced to third party contract developers and that it’s not clear if Hyperion has all the rights to this external work. Eventually, after five years and $41,050, on 21 November 2006, Amiga Inc told Hyperion it had violated the contract and gave it 30 days to sort it out – to finish the product and hand over the sources. This didn’t happen, so the contract was terminated [8] on 20 December 2006. Hyperion claims in its defence that Amiga Inc rendered the contract null through dealings with KMOS, a company which acquired the Amiga assets and renamed itself Amiga Inc over 2004-05.[9]
Four days later, 24 December 2006, Hyperion released the final version of OS4 – although according to Amiga Inc, Hyperion claims that this was merely an update of the developers’ preview version of 16 April 2004. Since the contract ended, Hyperion had no rights to use the name AmigaOS or any Amiga intellectual property, nor to market OS4 or enter into any agreements about it with anyone else. Nevertheless, AmigaOS 4 was still being developed [10] and distributed. Furtermore, ACube Systems released a series of Sam440ep motherboards, which run AmigaOS 4.
For a time, the case seemed deadlocked with neither side being apparently able to prove the point either way. Without Amiga Inc‘s permission Hyperion Entertainment(Hyperion) could not use the AmigaOS name or related trademarks. Hyperion’s defence centred around the potentially contract-voiding nature of the Amiga Inc/KMOS handover, the problems they faced in acquiring the post-Commodore OS3.x source code which Amiga Inc claimed to own and have access to, and the presence of new work and open components in the new Operating System.
Hyperion Entertainment and Amiga, Inc reached settlement agreement
On 30 September 2009, Hyperion Entertainment and Amiga, Inc reached settlement agreement where Hyperion was granted, „an exclusive, perpetual, worldwide right to AmigaOS 3.1 in order to use, develop, modify, commercialize, distribute and market AmigaOS 4.x.[11]
On the Edge: Spectacular rise and fall of C=USA 