They should make a Windows like Amiga OS so it runs on a PC

[spannernick]

They should make a Windows like Amiga OS so it runs on any PC so like Amiga OS 4.2 but its Intel/AMD based so it moves it away of PPC and into mainstream OSes like Microsoft Windows or Linux so its a main OS, Amiga is to emulated now, it need a mainstream version so you can install it on any PC,
like how Apple moved OSX to use Intel CPUs so why you can run it on a PC now.

Amiga OS is to stuck in the past still and 30 years behind, it need to stop using PPC now.

More people would then use it and cheaper to buy, no need to have dedicated hardware.

[DisasterIncarna]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AROS_R...erating_System

we already have it, its just doesnt get as much support/work done on it as many would like, some even thinking that while it works its not quite "amiga/workbench" enough. Plenty use it tho, you will see many posts here on EAB on the topic and it still gets updates.

[tero]

AROS is a nice System, but too close to classic Amiga imo. It 'feels' too old for more modern hardware.

OS4 for Pi4/5 on the other hand, i would buy it.

[DisasterIncarna]

quite a while ago AMIWM: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~marcus/amiwm.html was made for linux, an amiga like window manager slapped on top of whatever linux you use.

For what you seem to be after, something like AmiWM only skinned to look/feel like Amiga OS4 or a themed/pimped Amiga OS3.x would serve just as well as it would be used on modern linux distros, no need to redo a whole OS.

Or, if its purely the look you can already just use Linux + XFCE and skin XFCE to look like AmigaOS 3-4x like this.

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by spannernick

They should make a Windows like Amiga OS so it runs on any PC so like Amiga OS 4.2 but its Intel/AMD based so it moves it away of PPC and into mainstream OSes like Microsoft Windows or Linux so its a main OS, Amiga is to emulated now, it need a mainstream version so you can install it on any PC,
like how Apple moved OSX to use Intel CPUs so why you can run it on a PC now.

Amiga OS is to stuck in the past still and 30 years behind, it need to stop using PPC now.

More people would then use it and cheaper to buy, no need to have dedicated hardware.

The various reasons and issues involved have been discussed ad nauseum over the past decades on pretty much every Amiga forum and social media group there is - plenty of reading for you to catch up on . Bottom line, OSX was designed to be CPU agnostic; Amiga OS was not. AROS is already there as mentioned, but integration with classic apps isn't really possible without sandboxing them in a UAE instance. Unlike OSX, most Amiga software isn't still developed and so updating it for a new CPU isn't going to happen. PPC was a good choice at the time and allows relatively easy transparent 68k emulation, so native 68k applications can transparently use the OS4 API, thus benefitting from all the new features and support of the new OS. And supporting Intel isn't a magic bullet either - give AROS a go and you'll soon find that you have to be careful to get particular hardware for it to be fully supported; running on an x86 system doesn't automatically mean sound/network/graphics/USB cards are supported.

Definitely have a look at AROS. It's as close to what you're looking for as you'll find. Alternatively, you should check out Haiku, which is a modern implementation of BeOS, a lightweight alternative OS and has many Amiga-like qualities while also having much more support than AROS.

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by spannernick

Amiga OS is to stuck in the past still and 30 years behind, it need to stop using PPC now.

AmigaOS is not 'stuck in the past'. The most recent version, 3.2.2, was released in March 2023.

AmigaOS 4 will continue to be used while people have PPC based systems. We don't need to stop that.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by tero

AROS is a nice System, but too close to classic Amiga imo. It 'feels' too old for more modern hardware.

This is why we can't have nice things For some it's too old and for others it's not acceptable if it changes too much.

[Gorf]

It should defientitvly not be "Windows-like" but Amiga-like.

And yes: it needs to run on modern hardware - if that is x64 or ARM or RISC-V is irrelevant.

AROS is too close to the original API, that is holding the whole system back - and so are AOS4 and MorphOS.
None of these are in any way "modern" or even exiting ... and all of them have very limited usefulness.

Such an Amiga-like system needed to be constructed from the scratch, with multi-core CPUs and modern GPUs in mind. Not trying to get the old AmigaOS somehow running on modern hardware, but asking:
"How would the original Amiga-Team build an OS for today's hardware?"

Interesting concepts:

https://github.com/dplanitzer/Serena

Serena is an experimental operating system with an object-oriented kernel for Amiga 3000/4000 computers with support for pervasive preemptive concurrency and multiple users.
...
All kernel and user space concurrency is achieved by creating dispatch queues and by submitting work items to dispatch queues.
...

https://0xc0ffee.netlify.app/osdev/0...html#fusion-os

Single Address Space
This basically means that all processes share a single 64-bit virtual address space. I may still use per-process page tables for memory protection, but the address space will be shared.

Capability-based Security
This is a security model where access to resources is controlled by capabilities, which are unforgeable tokens that grant access to a resource. In addition to typical resources (e.g. files, devices, etc.), virtual memory regions will also be treated as resources, and access to them will be controlled by capabilities.

Computations as State Machines
Kernel services, interrupt handlers, and user processes will be implemented as single-threaded state machines. Concurrency will be achieved by running multiple state machines in parallel.

Message Passing
State machines will communicate with each other by sending messages (think events/commands), both synchronously and asynchronously.

[Retro1234]

Some of the Distros are very modern. Depends what you want to do. I mean there isn't even a descent browser is there?. Do you need multi core support to browse the net?

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by TCD

This is why we can't have nice things For some it's too old and for others it's not acceptable if it changes too much.

Yeah, I specifically like my Amiga experience to feel like 1993 at the latest, which is why I run 3.1 with original icons and prefs, and no extras apart from an old version of Amidock.

I don’t want anything that feels like a modern OS, even 3.2 feels too modern for me, it doesn’t give me the warm fuzzy Amiga feeling. I use Win/Mac for modern OS’s and like it that way ¯\_(?)_/¯

[spannernick]

I mean a version of AmigaOS 4x but compatible with the PC so a mainstream OS so its competing with Windows, Linux, if they can make one for the PPC then they can for the PC.

[swoslover]

An Amiga that could browse the web and had a decent word processor would be enough for most people's everyday needs that much hasn't changed in about 25 years.

Of course that's disregarding gaming but many of us will use other systems for that anyway and be happy with Amiga for classics.

[Retro1234]

Aros x86 is modern

[Gorf]

Originally Posted by Retro1234

Some of the Distros are very modern.

No. They are not.
Some may have a more modern look - but that its just cosmetics.

Depends what you want to do. I mean there isn't even a descent browser is there?. Do you need multi core support to browse the net?

Wayfarer on MorphOS is probably the only decent native browser for an Amiga-like OS ... and it is getting slow on demanding pages - but that might be also a result of the PPC-only limitations. Not sure how it would do an a modern CPU on singe-core action.

https://blog.alb42.de/programs/amifox/
AmiFOX is a way to circumvent this, by running Chromium on a server somewhere else.
Running a VNC or RDP client is an other option.

But independent from browsers:
Having a multicore CPU in your setup but not being able to leverage this power due to limitations of your OS is never a good look - as it wasting resources in general.

Kalamatee showed with his "Silly-SMP" on x86_64 over ten years ago, that SMP support is possible on AROS.
[ Show youtube player ]

But it was not very stable ... all in all something like AxRuntime is probably the way to go to run existing AROS/AmigaOS software* on a new system - giving each program its own save runtime.

*(as long as it still can be recompiled)

[Gorf]

Originally Posted by Retro1234

Aros x86 is modern

How so?
It is still just the recreation of a very old API - the only modern thing about is it the hardware it is capable of running on.
The system itself and all its concepts are not modern at all.

AROS is still very much hold back by trying to reimplement an OS that was restricted by severe memory and hardware restrictions of the 80s.
A system that had to be done in a very short time - leading to many shortcuts and many originally planed things not implemented.

RJ Mical originally wanted Intuition to be a device ... but there was no time.
There was no time to implement resource tracking
The whole DOS part was a port of TRIPOS and not the originally intended CAOS.
http://obligement.free.fr/articles_t...as_caos_en.php

[Gorf]

Originally Posted by swoslover

An Amiga that could browse the web and had a decent word processor would be enough for most people's everyday needs that much hasn't changed in about 25 years.

If you have the first, the second one comes for free.
https://wasm-test.libreoffice.org

Libreoffice can run completely in your browser - not like Office365 or others, where you still need a server, but the whole thing is compiled to WebAssembly.

[Retro1234]

Personally AmigaDos is one of the great things about the system. I mean what exactly do you want? If you don't like Amiga OS or Amiga Dos etc maybe just use Linux or Windows.

[Gorf]

Originally Posted by Retro1234

Personally AmigaDos is one of the great things about the system. I mean what exactly do you want? If you don't like Amiga OS or Amiga Dos etc maybe just use Linux or Windows.

Windows is definitively worse on so many levels ...
Linux along with all POSIX systems has its own legacy baggage and has become very bloated over the years as well - and it was not an elegant solution from the very beginning.

But all that does not mean AOS in all its implementations is not severely outdated now, has big problems with resource tracking and management, has no means of protection and can not make use of multiple cores, has problems with multiple screens ...
And as we are used to the way it works there are many cumbersome behaviors ... it isn't even particularly easy to program for, despite its limited API.

maybe just use Linux or Windows.

Or Android or MacOS ...

And guess what: like everybody else I am forced to do so, since no Amiga-like OS allows me to get my work done. You can jump through a lot of loops to at least get some things done ... but at this point you are far away from any "good" user experience or even ease of use.

I mean what exactly do you want?

Having the feeling and joy back, the Amiga gave me in the early 90s - but with today's tasks and on today's hardware.
A system that is elegant, responsive, smooth, beautiful, easy to understand, easy to code for, puts me back into control.

I want a new drug!

[ Show youtube player ]

[minator]

Originally Posted by Bruce Abbott

AmigaOS is not 'stuck in the past'.

Does it have memory protection?
Can it use more then one core?
Can it access more than 2GB RAM?
Can it run on silicon developed this century?

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Gorf

A system that is elegant, responsive, smooth, beautiful, easy to understand, easy to code for, puts me back into control.

Have you considered that maybe you're chasing an impossible Unicorn OS?

Plus, even Amiga OS wasn't all these things to start with....