Those of an old timer perspective like myself — or as I like to think of it, suitably seasoned — will know that every couple of years, the dusty but beloved old Amiga brand gets a reheating and a semi-fresh spark of life. The latest Amiga products due for release next year? Amiga netbooks.
I’ve got especially fond memories of the Amiga; my trusty Amiga 500 saw me through my University degree, and look where that’s taken me.
Ahem. Maybe not. Anyway, AmigaOS is the operating system that won’t go quietly into the night; recent years have seen a small number of PowerPC based machines running AmigaOS released to a core group of enthusiasts. The latest batch of machines includes the “First Contact” version of the x1000, a full desktop machine that doesn’t look particularly Amiga-esque on the surface. Hyperion, the folks currently behind the Amiga IP, are working on Netbooks to release some time in 2012. The Amiga Netbook will use integrated graphics, most likely 512MB of RAM and cost somewhere between US$300-US$500.
I loved my Amiga back in the day; I really did. But at that kind of price point for mid-next year at the earliest, I’ve got to say that it’s looking like a costly and rather niche offering. [Liliputing]
Image: farnea
Adam Templeton
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 9:17 AMIf you can’t be bothered waiting, and have a normal PC.
One word, AROS, it brings the fun of Amiga back to the PC world.
Probably the best “distro” would be
http://icarosdesktop.org/
there is also
http://www.aros-broadway.de/
Both work under virtual machines, or can run natively, as a seperate OS.
wiz1974
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:09 AMthe whole commodore range saw me through my childhood, from the Vic 20, through C64 and Amiga….ah those were the days, when only geeks used computers lol :)
light487
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:11 AMThe Amiga 500 was also the first computer “I owned”.. I’d had other computers before that but they were all communally owned by the family. My Amiga 500 was actually a hand me down, though I remember I had to buy it off my brother at the time. It served me well with games and other graphical stuff but ended up as a terminal computer running Ncomm for months at a time until my phone line was hit by lightning. I remember that day well.. and remember seeing the screen-burn on the monitor where the Ncomm’s status bar had sat, permanently, for all of those months. It was a time of text-only internet, MUDs, dialup BBSes.. very fond memories of that time.
Will
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:23 AMThe Amiga 500 was THE personal computer of the late 80′s and early 90′s… FatAngus/Workbench/ Kindwords/DPaint/Gunship/Cinemaware/Formula One GP… 4096 colours on screen at once when an IBM could do 4!
Will
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:25 AMI still have mine… might have to dust it off to see how it stacks up after all these years.
Michael
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:37 AMFatAngus was my bitch. Everytime I got the much hated “Green screen of death”, I would open the Amiga up and hit that chip into submission. (it was something about the solder joints or something.) Ahhh childhood memories.
light487
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 11:12 AMAhhh yes, the days when hitting your computer actually DID make a difference.. I remember hitting my Amgia more than a few times and getting positive results. :)
TSH
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:53 AMUsing Amigas for actual productivity was a bit before my time, but I have very fond memories of my Uncle’s Commodore 64 and Amiga 3000. At the time, they just blew everything else away.
Unfortunately, I don’t really see what Amiga OS has to offer these days other than software through virtual machines. And even then, only to enthusiasts. But then again, it’s not as though Bugatti sells a million Veyrons every year.
Xuchiex
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 12:10 PMMan i loved my amiga i still have my 500 with 4meg of ram “upgraded it ” and i have a CD32 with a 20gig HD at home still make me want to fire them up again
DingoJunior
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 12:18 PMMy A1000 said it all…
“The Amiga, Born a Champion”
“We made Amiga, they f*cked it up”
‘Nuff said :)
Was a champion in its day. Is sadly now an irrelevant relic.
Womp
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 1:14 PMGet it to dual boot Amiga OS & webOS and you will have the saddest machine ever.
Richard Lake
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 2:12 PMHi,
If anyone would like to find out a little more about how AmigaOS has evolved and where it stands in 2011 you could do no better than head to the all-new official AmigaOs website. Just head to http://www.amigaos.net
I also find this YouTube video very inspiring:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=youtube%20why%20use%20an%20amiga%20in%202011&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBwQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds1RsvEm7UrU&ei=0yimTuC4H8W38QPVk5C3Dw&usg=AFQjCNGNJ03Tfk5HYi_D86s4cZOHVmbmyg&cad=rja
Its titled Why use an Amiga in 2011? … well worth a watch.
Richard Lake
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 2:15 PMOh that was a strange paste… if the above doesn’t work for you, try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1RsvEm7UrU
Just to add to the original post, there is a FireFox port available on Amiga too which of course would be fantastic on a netbook.
smith
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 2:49 PMI briefly worked in computer sales in 1989, selling A500′s alongside IBM compatibles (CGA graphics! Playing Dr J vs Larry Bird in purple, white AND green!). I bought an A500 and fondly remember Cinemaware TV Sports Basketball.
chris
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 3:27 PMcommodore amiga 2000.. dual disk drives, man we were the coolest kids on the block! had hours of fun on that machine
Phil
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:45 PMpoke 36875,15
;-)
Any old readers of Australian Commodore and Amiga Review out there?
AmigaOne x1000
Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 12:05 AMThere is a nice video about the upcoming AmigaOne x1000 at http://www.amigaonex1000.com worth watching imho
steve
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 2:47 PMAmiga Review Reader and Amazing was the other I used to read.. and Amiga World. Ahh, I wax nostalgic. Seemed like I was always waiting for something. Better modems, Super Gen, Kitchen Sync. I still have a 1000 and a Live! board. I should get that out!