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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
- Path: netnews.upenn.edu!dsinc!scala!news
- From: dave.haynie@scala.com (Dave Haynie)
- Subject: Re: Is Power PC really the way to go?
- Sender: news@scala.scala.com (Usenet administrator)
- Message-ID: <1996Apr19.154012.5874@scala.scala.com>
- Date: Fri, 19 Apr 1996 15:40:12 GMT
- Reply-To: dave.haynie@scala.com (Dave Haynie)
- References: <1387.6682T1355T514@mbox200.swipnet.se>
- Nntp-Posting-Host: gator
- Organization: Scala Computer Television, US Research Center
-
- In <1387.6682T1355T514@mbox200.swipnet.se>, videoking@mbox200.swipnet.se (Johan Otterstrom) writes:
- >Is PowerPC really the future for the Amiga? I've heard several people who are
- >very doubtful about this whole project.
-
- They clearly don't understand the market dynamic of the personal
- computer business. PowerPC is the only alternative to Intel, like it
- or not.
-
- >I while back I spoke to MacroSystem(USA)(Makers of WarpEngine) and they vere
- >very sceptic about the whole PowerPC project. They just said good luck to 'em.
- >I also spoke to Hirsch & Wolf in germany which sell PowerMacs and they had a
- >lot of problems with these machines. They also siad the even the fastest Power
- >Mac could not emulate 68xxx code faster than a 68040 40Mhz.
-
- The point of PowerPC is NOT to make legacy code run faster than it
- would on a real 68040 (though with faster PPCs, that will come in
- time). The goal on the Power Amiga project is simple: any Power Amiga
- should run 68K code about as fast as the 68K machine it's
- replacing. So your low-end, A1200 replacement should run 68K code as
- fast as a 14MHz 68020 does. On the other hand, when you run native
- code, it should be faster than a 68040.
-
- >Who will write the new PowerPC software??
-
- Developers, natch.
-
- >Which companies dare to spend more money on developing for a "to be
- >maby" market?
-
- Part of the job of the introduction of the Power Amiga is convincing
- developers this is something they want to support. As for a "maybe"
- market, care to name anything else in the computer business that
- isn't (unless you happen to be Microsoft)?
-
- >MacroSystem (germany) decided to use the Dec Alpha in their Draco,
- >mainly due to Motorola's previous track record. Alpha's are available
- >now in quantity.
-
- Considerably more PowerPCs than Alphas have shipped,
- world-wide. MacroSystems aren't building machines for the masses,
- they're building LightWave accelerators. Sure, today's Alphas are
- faster than anything else around. But that comes at a price -- Alphas
- are expensive. So expensive, in fact, that DEC's attempts to get them
- designed into volume (eg, non-workstation) applications have failed,
- and DEC teamed up with Advanced RISC Machines to develop the StrongARM
- processor for those markets. Anyone who wants a $10,000+ system is
- free to buy one today.
-
- >Are the various models of the PowerPC chip backwards compatible?
-
- They're all software compatible. There are actually several levels of
- specification, that cover the instruction set, surrounding bits (like
- MMU), system (PPCP), etc. This defines exactly what a PPC is and
- isn't, so different vendors (IBM, Motorola, and eventually Exponential
- Technologies) can independently develop designs that all run the same
- code.
-
- >Then why the many various add ons in system 7.5 on the Mac? Macintosh
- >have a lot of problems with their PowerMacs,
-
- Apple's problems are of a non-technical nature.
-
- Dave Haynie | ex-Commodore Engineering | for DiskSalv 3 &
- Sr. Systems Engineer | Hardwired Media Company | "The Deathbed Vigil"
- Scala Inc., US R&D | Ki No Kawa Aikido | info@iam.com
-
- "Feeling ... Pretty ... Psyched" -R.E.M.
-
-