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Re: PowerMac DOS Compatibles, linux, A/UX and MAE



Lloyd Wood wrote:
> 
> "But if MAE runs on Solaris, can't you just buy it for your Sparc?"
> 
> "The 6100 is only a few hundred dollars more, and it runs PowerPC
>  binaries. MAE looks pretty bad next to an LC475, and won't do PowerPC
>  native apps. It's really a way for Apple to repackage and resell the
>  neat 68K emulator code that made the PowerMacs possible,
>  nothing more. They've made noises about doing PowerMac emulation,
>  but never in a million years will they do it. Emulating a RISC
>  processor with a different RISC processor is a development
>  nightmare, and performance would just suck."
> 
> "So if you want performance..."
> 
> "You go and you buy a real Pentium PC and stick linux or NT
>  on it and you go and buy a 604-based Mac for doing Neat Stuff
>  and you run real commercial shrinkware unix apps on the Sparc.
>  You don't dick around with these weird 'compatible' cards."


It is a good concern that you did mention in your email. My opinion is
different thought. I think that MAE on top of Linux,Aix, Solaris ,NetBSD,
etc...would be a winner. 

One of the concerns is about perfomance. I don't think that would happen.
MAE in an HP, or Sparc is an emulation in order to allow the 68xxx to run
on those machines. But MAE for Powerpc on top of AIX,Solaris,and specially
Linux would run on the same machine. I don't think any emulation would be
necessary. I think it would be analogous to AUX and MacOs:there is no emula
tion.

People that run Linux would prefer a Powerpc and get MAE on top of if because
they would be able to have in one machine the possibility of running Unix,
MacOS applications which would include Insignia Softwindows 3 for example
and all the dos/windows3.1/windows95 software.The emulation of SoftWindows
3 
seems that improved significantly. The same reasoning would be applicable to
MAE on top of Solaris,Aix,etc... 

Price is an important factor. Apple has to think about this product for the
masses and ask at most 200us$, since macOs7.5.3 is about 100us$. Also
softwindows needs to be cheaper. If windows Nt (which includes softwindows
for powerpc) is about 300us$, then softwindows alone can not cost 300us$.

Price is very important in here. Aux was a nice product, but too expensive and
the first versions were not good. But Linux has already a big group of users
(more the 5 millions, easily) and continuously growing. Free and solid product.


I hope to see the continuation of this discussion . 

Jose.


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