The future is looking bright again for the long-lost Amiga OS
as it looks to resurrect itself in a revolutionary new product:
AmigaDE.
Now that we have discussed the perils of porting and managing
QA under Linux, it is time to look at some solutions. One of
the ideas currently being floated, is to design a media layer
so that developers can have one standardized OS platform to
target, instead of having to target Macintosh, Windows, and the
many shifting sands of the Linux distributions. With a media
layer consumers also benefit because, ideally, it allows them
to forget about the complexities of the underlying operating
system and focus on playing games or using productivity tools. There are several players in this market, but none have a name
as well known as Amiga. Many people remember Amiga as that
crazy little computer company whose computers produced amazing
graphics and sound while Apple and Microsoft still struggled to
deliver color and realistic sound. In the early years, it
looked as though Amiga was the future. Several years later
however, this bright future was nearly forgotten as the big
boys gained increasing market share. Now, Amiga is working on a comeback. Their new product, the
AmigaDE promises to fix many of the problems that gamers and
developers have run into while running Linux. Currently there is no one Linux distribution vendor that is
focusing on supporting games at the OS level. Loki is doing a
great job at porting games and exploring Linux as a platform
for running advanced multimedia applications, but they don't
have the resources to actually modify the OS and maintain a new
distribution. So the job is left to the major Linux
distribution vendors who are rapidly improving the interface
and the quality of their various distributions. Unfortunately,
the process is also leading to discrepancies and
incompatibilities between the various distributions, which only
makes it harder for developers to support and users to use. Enter Bill McEwen, president and CEO of Amiga, Inc, and the new
Amiga Digital Environment...
GameSpy: The Amiga name has been around for many years, and
many gamers remember the name quite fondly because it
introduced us to advanced visual and sound effects not found on
Mac or PC at the time. Is the current Amiga a new company, or
is it the same one we remember but with a renewed focus? Bill McEwen: It is the same with a renewed focus on the future
of computing. The Amiga was the leader in bringing multi-media
to the everyday person, and to the desktop. Now we have taken
the next step in being the leader in multi-media for the next
series of emerging platforms. GameSpy: Is Amiga still making hardware as well as software? Bill McEwen: Amiga does not manufacture hardware. We create
reference designs that other OEM's will use to build Amiga
machines. It is very similar to what other companies do. They
develop an operating system, and then use reference platforms
so that OEMs can build systems to sell to the end-user. When a
user purchases a computer from Compaq, HP or Gateway they are
really purchasing a Microsoft Windows machines. GameSpy: What direction are you taking Amiga in today? Bill McEwen: Towards a solid future. With new devices and new
consumer demands there is no clear leader in delivering multi-
media content to these varying devices. With Amiga there is an
opportunity for hardware OEM's to have choices and for
consumers to have compelling content they can use, and
developers are able to embrace a new technology that will allow
them to create applications that can run on multiple platforms. GameSpy: One of the areas that has been focused upon quite
recently is the emerging Linux gaming market. What plans does
Amiga have for that area? Bill McEwen: AmigaDE applications run great on Linux, and we
are able to offer some great gaming content for all different
flavors of Linux. Not only desktops, but the embedded Linux
offerings can run AmigaDE in most cases so they can use some of
this great fun gaming content also. GameSpy: What do you think of the progress that Linux gaming
has made in the past year? Bill McEwen: It's still in its infancy stages, but many of the
games coming out for AmigaDE are being written by Linux
developers. GameSpy: Does the Amiga DE and SDK help to reduce the driver
problems that Linux gamers still experience, or is it focused
solely on ensuring that the application can run on multiple
platforms as long as the appropriate hardware and drivers are
already installed on the system? Bill McEwen: It will be both. We have companies that we are
working with to get drivers written, and these are focused on
leading manufactures of cards in these emerging markets. Once
an application is written for AmigaDE it will run wherever
AmigaDE is running, that is as long as it can fit and run in
the space available on the target system. GameSpy: On your Website, it says that the SDK is $99, are
there any price breaks for non commercial developers or
students? Bill McEwen: We will have some student pricing breaks up on the
site soon. GameSpy: Your Website also says that it requires RedHat Linux
6.1. Is there something specifically important about Red Hat,
or can a developer using Debian, or SuSe use the SDK as well? Bill McEwen: Our Linux SDK is being run on many different
versions of Linux. I would suggest that interested parties
check with the Amiga developer site, and learn more about all
of the flavors of Linux that the AmigaSDK supports.
GameSpy: What does the end-user need to have to play games developed with the SDK in Linux? Does this cost the user anything?
Bill McEwen: They would need AmigaDE on the target machine.
GameSpy: Could you describe the end-user experience once they decide to play a game developed with the Amiga SDK?
Bill McEwen: It depends on the target machine, and the desires of the developer of the game. The end-user could simply load the program, they would see a short splash screen, and then they would play the game. Or they could run the complete AmigaDE environment, and run the game from our GUI.
What the future brings Linux gamers will certainly be interesting. Developing a media layer or secondary operating system that resides on top of Linux or other platforms, in concept, will solve some of the major issues that currently slow the adoption of Linux. How well this solution works, and which solution succeeds, remains to be seen.
The rise of several similar products to AmigaDE, such as
Rocklyte Systems' Athena OS, indicate that a new product
category is beginning to emerge that will provide common work
and development environments in the PC+ era. As the Windows PC
OS monopoly continues to erode, I expect to see more and more
products like these appear.