Last Saturday I attended a MorphOS demonstration in Rotterdam. MorphOS is a PPC AmigaOS clone capable of executing many 68k and PPC classic AmigaOS software titles through seamlessly integrated emulation. This article takes a close look at MorphOS’ current state of development and includes some recent screenshots of the PPC native Ambient GUI environment.![Click for a larger version]()
MorphOS has already been under development for several years, and an early version has been available for PPC equipped Amigas for quite some time now. This early version however did not yet have its own GUI environment, but instead can emulate a Workbench 3.x AmigaOS GUI environment. Initially, MorphOS was even being evaluated by Amiga Inc. to become the official new AmigaOS4 desktop operating system, but as Amiga Inc. had just spent almost 5 million dollars on acquiring Amiga’s assets, they understandably wanted to remain the owner and fully in control of future AmigaOS releases. However bPlan, just as understandly, could not agree to such terms as they had already done alot of work themselves and view MorphOS as a fundamental part of bPlan’s future products. So, no agreement could be reached and the legal status of the OS has been in doubt within the Amiga community ever since (allegedly, because the development team has had access to AmigaOS source code). Of course many different aspects and views are to be considered, which however go far beyond the purpose of this article.
Currently MorphOS runs with its own PPC native AmigaOS-clone GUI environment , called Ambient, on 600 Mhz G3 powered beta-tester PEGASOS boards. This microATX form factor motherboard includes a processor slot which can take a processor card with up to 2 MPC 7450 G4 PPC CPUs onboard and most likely G5 CPU in the future. Two G3 beta-tester boards equipped with ATi Radeon graphic cards running MorphOS were being demonstrated in Rotterdam, and my first impression was: “Wow, this OS boots really FAST!”. The OS only takes 5 seconds to boot into a full desktop GUI environment as shown in the provided screenshots. Certainly something you would only expect from AmigaOS! After this, several 68k and PPC Amiga applications were being demonstrated, and all of these ran with remarkable performance. The OS and most applications seem to fly, especially compared to Macintosh OSes as while running similar software titles, which in the case of the Macintosh simply seem to crawl on similar specification hardware!
![Click for a larger version]()
To summarize, first impressions were: impressive bootup speeds, fast and seamless retargetable AmigaOS 3.x 68k and PPC software compatibility and a fast overall GUI experience. On the hardware side, the PEGASOS is a compact, well designed motherboard and a complete system operates very quietly. However, my impression was also that still quite some work needs to be done until MorphOS is ready for general consumers. The three beta-testers/developers demonstrating MorphOS had just received a new software update from the core MorphOS team, which broke compatibility with quite a few applications as well as introducing some bugs. Although the OS itself was still pretty stable, many emulated applications did not function properly. There was also a bug in the sheduling which caused performance problems while running some software titles simultaneously. For instance, window dragging with a movie playing simultaneously inside was being demonstrated and the movie indeed continued to play flawlessly while dragging, at least until it suddenly stopped playing. Most of these problems are expected to be solved by the time the MorphOS/PEGASOS teams attend the big German Amiga fair, which is to be held on the 7th and 8th of December 2002 at the Eurogress in Aachen. This video coverage of last year’s main German Amiga event includes an interesting interview with bPlan’s technical director Gerald Carda.
Thendic-France, has acquired the rights to organize and manage the worldwide distribution of bPlan’s PEGASOS motherboards, which should ship with both MorphOS and Yellow Dog Linux operating systems when available. For the future this company also plans to make a handheld computer called the Eclipsis, which will be based on PEGASOS and MorphOS technology. Additionally, an AGA compatible custom chip is also planned, which should allow usage of classic AGA chipset bound software, as well as adding some new powerful features.
For the latest news on the MorphOS/PEGASOS project specificly, see the MorphOS-News.de community website, or for more general Amiga community news, the Amiga.org community portal.
Here’s a screenshot of MacOS X running through Linux on the PEGASOS:
http://web.afua.asso.fr/OSX-Pegasos2.png
I have been told that an option for running MacOS X on the PEGASOS as standalone (without Linux/MOL) will become possible as well. However such a solution cannot be shipped with the PEGASOS by default due to Apple.
technical aspects asside, who in gods name could design such an ugly gui. YUCK.
Well, I kind of like it. Too bad I don’t own a PPC, not do I have the money for one. I really hope that AROS comes along quickly.
All you have to do is take out 1 pixel off from the each corner.
… What is this “Mac on Linux” ? It *looks* like it’s running OS X in a window … or is this OS 9 stuff with an OS X theme? Or is it a Photoshop special?
kyle didn’t you read the included text?:
“new default GUI-look will be significantly different. Regardless, the GUI will be customizable to suit the taste of the user”
Just like with AmigaOS4 or classic AmigaOS the GUI can be customized.
Have a look at these customized classic AmigaOS user screenshots as an example:
http://www.gfxbase.com/wbshots/wbshots.shtml
>What is this “Mac on Linux”
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1697
MOL allows MacOS to be run inside Linux on PPC hardware, more info here:
http://www.maconlinux.net/
Next to running on Apple hardware, MOL runs with PEGASOS and AmigaOne motherboards.
Um I thought the that apple used a special rom chip to keep their OS from running on non-apple computers… how is this running on a PEGASOS board?
Too bad that there are not only two competeting “Amiga” OSs but also two hardware platform. Things would be a lot better for the user if she could buy one box to run MorphOS and AmigaOS 4 on it and would not have to decide between Pegasos and AmigaOne. I wonder how long it’ll take until we see MOL port for AmigaOS 4 or Morphos, or if even someone will patch Darwin so one can run MacOS X on the AmigaOne or Pegasos? Being an alternative to Apple hardware could give those hardware platforms a real boost, people will have two excuses less to not buy a Mac (buying hardware from Apple and having only one mouse button
.
So apparently there is no rom chip to keep the OS only on apple hardware… now what surprises me is that apple hasn’t done anything about this.
I mean where will be a “release”?
Truth be told Ithink this is one of the prettiest GUI’s I have see in a long time. The split then shadowed title bars, with their OSX like windows controls are very hansome. The icons, easpecially, the CD one and the file-cabinets are great. The only things missing are full drop shadows below windows, and maybe some translucentcy. I think this is much much better looking than the new Amiga OS4 screenshots I’ve seen.
I’ve searched before, and again after reading this article (nice article BTW), but still came up empty.
Where will I be able to purchase one of these (either now, or once they’re mass produced)?
What should I expect one of these puppies to sell for, and in what configurations? As I recall from a different site in the past, there were several “configurations” the MB’s and CPU’s were to be sold in as complete pre-built machines or something.
And when should we expect them to become available en masse?
Any ideas Mike? You always come through with the Amiga-related goods, so I was hoping you might have a tip or two re: this. 8)=
These look like they’ll be fun things to play around with (OSX without the Apple hardware costs… Drool!). Not to mention being able to relive the geek days of the Amiga again. Oh! And let us not forget Amiga V4!
Wow… Then I will truly have become a nerd. Multi OS’s on both x86 and PPC machines. Sigh…
Hey, BTW Eugenia… Here’s one of my oh-so-typical posts. Mind pointing out the trolls that I disguise so nicely within?
Since Modern Apples use Open Firmware, which is supposed to be an open standard, couldn’t the firmware of these machines be flashed with a Mac compatible Open Firmware, making them “look” like Macs to the software. Even though Macs don’t have ROM chips anymore, hardware compatibility may be a problem.
Nice screenshot, MacOS X running in a window inside WindowMaker, a NeXT clone
So apparently there is no rom chip to keep the OS only on apple hardware… now what surprises me is that apple hasn’t done anything about this.
Eh, why would they do anything? At the moment the only way you can run it is if you own both apple hardware and software – outside of the small number of AmigaOne beta-testers, that is.
According to the Mac OS X license you can legally use a single copy of Mac OS X on “a single Apple-labeled computer at a time.”
So technically your violating you license agreement if you run Mac OS X on other hardware.
I too think those GUI shots don’t look that great. The only one I think looks half decent is http://www.gfxbase.com/wbshots/shots/milovic.jpg. As for the rest, where to start? Many UI elements suffer from the same fugliness as those in Win3.1 (and to a slightly lesser excent, 9x/ME/2k) – garishness resulting from an excessive 3d look. Especially the scrollbars/scrolling buttons in some of those shots. Personally, I think the flatter, smoother UI elements of NeXT, BeOS, and MacOS < X look much nicer and much less tacky. Second gripe – ugh, what’s with the overuse of ugly textures in those screenshots? And the colours! My eyes hurt looking at the contrasting bright neons for just a few seconds, I can’t imagine staring at that all day. Last, but not least, the icons. Hasn’t anyone paid any attention to how much nicer the magic of *perspective” makes BeOS and MacOS icons look?
Really, if the Amiga OS lets users make it look like anything, kudos to it. Unfortunately, most of users seem to make it look like ass.
…has been around for quite a while now.
Where will I be able to purchase one of these (either now, or once they’re mass produced)?
I came across this info at
http://ann.lu/detail.cgi?category=news&file=1033739849.msg :
“After 14 October Betatester machines can be purchased from these known distributors/resellers:
Master Distributors:
Germany http://www.vesalia.de
France http://www.aps.fr
Resellers:
France http://www.pegasos-france.com
Germany http://www.kdh-shop24.de
Spain http://www.amigasuperbit.com
Italy http://www.virtualworks.it
Holland http://www.compcity.nl
Poland http://efunzine.pegasos.pl/
Sweden http://www.ggsdata.se
Suisse http://www.pegasos-suisse.com
Denmark http://www.kiwimultimedia.dk
Austria http://www.pointdesign.at/
USA and Canada details coming soon!”
>(mainly because the development team has had access to >AmigaOS source code).
Come on Mike, you should know better than to spread FUD like this around, unless you can back it up.
Eugenia,
I was thinking what you submitted. 😉
-Jason
@ Shice
“Many UI elements suffer from the same fugliness as those in Win3.1 (and to a slightly lesser excent, 9x/ME/2k) – garishness resulting from an excessive 3d look.”
As Mike pointed out, this is not the final GUI. Even if it was, it would be worth to be noted that the full release of MorphOS will come with several ‘looks’ anyway!
“Especially the scrollbars/scrolling buttons in some of those shots. Personally, I think the flatter, smoother UI elements of NeXT, BeOS, and MacOS < X look much nicer and much less tacky.”
Once again, MorphOS will come with several different sets of window gadgets (as well as window skins). And if you are into graphics, you may even create your own set!
“Last, but not least, the icons. Hasn’t anyone paid any attention to how much nicer the magic of *perspective” makes BeOS and MacOS icons look?”
Actually, MorphOS will come with TWO sets of icons. You don’t like the current set? Fine, just chose the second one which is probably exactly what you’re looking for…
“Just like with AmigaOS4 or classic AmigaOS the GUI can be customized.”
To be precise, the MorphOS GUI can be customized a lot more than with the OSes mentioned above. Most importantly, it features *window skinning* by default. If someone wants his windows to look (almost) like in MacOSX, he is free to change the MorphOS GUI accordingly.
Vince: Um I thought the that apple used a special rom chip to keep their OS from running on non-apple computers… how is this running on a PEGASOS board?
They do. It is called reverse engineering, my friend. As long nobody commercialize it (like advertising Pegasus mobo running Mac OS X), nobody would get sued.
Besides, there isn’t any ROM chips, rather it uses software to make sure it is running on a recognized Mac.
stew: Things would be a lot better for the user if she could buy one box to run MorphOS and AmigaOS 4 on it and would not have to decide between Pegasos and AmigaOne.
IIRC, you CAN run MorphOS on an AmigaONE, but not Amiga OS 4 on Pegasus.
lu_zero: I mean where will be a “release”?
LOL, anything Amiga don’t have release plans. If they do have release plans, they rarely follow it…
>> (mainly because the development team has had access to
>> AmigaOS source code).
> Come on Mike, you should know better than to spread FUD
> like this around, unless you can back it up.
Cheesegate, nobody is denying this as far as I know. What is being denied is that they *used* this source code for MorphOS.
>> “Just like with AmigaOS4 or classic AmigaOS the GUI can
>> be customized.”
> To be precise, the MorphOS GUI can be customized a lot
> more than with the OSes mentioned above.
By *default* you are right with regard to classic AmigaOS 3.x. (Did I mention defaults anywhere?) However with regard to AmigaOS4 you are wrong.
> Most importantly, it features *window skinning* by
> default.
Just like is planned for AmigaOS4.
@ Mr. Cancelled
> Where will I be able to purchase one of these (either
> now, or once they’re mass produced)?
Vesalia is selling a limited quantity of Betatester II boards for a limited time only (October 14th).
Combined with MorphOS, G3 and VAT these boards cost 559 Euro.
http://www.vesalia.de
>>> “Just like with AmigaOS4 or classic AmigaOS the GUI can
>>> be customized.”
>> To be precise, the MorphOS GUI can be customized a lot
>> more than with the OSes mentioned above.
> By *default* you are right with regard to classic AmigaOS
> 3.x. (Did I mention defaults anywhere?)
Excuse me, but there is NO tool which allows for window skinning to be used on AmigaOS3.x! And please don’t say “Birdie” now, because this application does *not* support window skins. What you’re implying is simply wrong.
>> Most importantly, it features *window skinning* by
>> default.
> Just like is planned for AmigaOS4.
When saying AmigaOS4, I thought you were referring to “AmigaOS4.0”, i.e. the next release. And not some fictous update in the unknown future.
Sorry, Mike, I should have known better than that…
Andre, I doubt that MorphOS 1.0 will have a higher degree of “skinability” than AmigaOS4.0!
When being asked about customizability, the Thendic employees only showed the PPC version of the Magic User Interface (MUI), which will of course also be available for AmigaOS4, likely even distributed with it. (Note however that AmigaOS4 uses a new very advanced version of Reaction by default instead. And that the author of VisualPrefs is integrating customizability options into AmigaOS4.)
They do. It is called reverse engineering, my friend. As long nobody commercialize it (like advertising Pegasus mobo running Mac OS X), nobody would get sued.
Besides, there isn’t any ROM chips, rather it uses software to make sure it is running on a recognized Mac.
No need for reverse engineering. Darwin is available as source code, you can strip all the OF/Apple specific parts and replace them. You might need to write a couple of drivers, but that shoudln’t be the problem.
It’s a mostly unknown fact, but unlike MacOS 9, MacOS X can be run on the old clones from Motorola, Umax etc.
> When being asked about customizability, the Thendic
> employees only showed the PPC version of the Magic User
> Interface (MUI)
Well, I would believe that I have some more insight into how much one can customize the MorphOS GUI. And MUI is just the tip on the iceberg.
I’m talking about *real* window skinning, i.e. not limited to changing a colour or replacing some window gadgets. Using MorphOS’ skinning technology, you can make your windows look almost exactly like in MacOS, WinXP, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Andre, although you may know more about MorphOS (there is no public feature list I could find anywhere) note that you do not know more about AmigaOS4!
Here are some quotes from Ben Hermans (AmigaOS4 project manager:
“The idea is that the GUI will be fully skinnable and we’re almost there.”
“Massimo will be the first to tell you that his work on OS 4 extends far beyond just integrating VisualPrefs, MagicMenu, Birdie and FullPalette (yes, that’s the full list).
He’s a real wizard and the stuff he’s done with Intuition in such a short time is simply amazing.”
Mike, you probably don’t get (or don’t know) the fact that Andre Siegel is one of the guys working on MOS skins, and that’s why he is talking… Consider what he says as semi official features…
Kind regards.
What I did know about Andre was that he is a graphics artist and somehow is involved with the MorphOS project. I would guess not for that long as he didn’t seem to know that MorphOS was being shown running an uncustomized WB 3.1 GUI in the past.
http://aurora.merseine.nu/fudbuster/
Morph OS, booting in 5 seconds, SWEET. Now THAT’S progress. Again, this combined with the inherent Ram Disk (I use that component of AOS religiously) makes an ultra cool system. Now, updated software is the only thing that will hold it back. BUT, theres always the chance of our biggest SW supporters coming back, if only in a limited degree, if the bugs are reduced to non-existent. People want a stable environment to work in.
Amiga!! It’s not too late….yet.
MorphOS project, Bplan, Thendic are being sued by Amiga Inc.
If Amiga Inc win:
1. The MorphOS project will be closed.
2 The existing Pegasos customer can only run Linux PowerPC.
3. There will be no support and update for MorphOS users.
Speed problems:
A. According to Spec Integer benchmark, 1 MHz PowerPC equal with 1 MHz Pentium III. The Spec Floating Point result: PowerPC is slower than Pentium III (the benchmark did not use Altivec co-processor).
B. At present MHz/GHz level G3/G4 cann’t beat 2 GHz / faster Pentium 4.
Bplan and Thendic need to show the market / customer that MorphOS + Pegasos combination will be faster than Pentium IV (2 GHz) with WindowsXP or Pentium IV (2 GHz) with Linux X86.
“MorphOS project, Bplan, Thendic are being sued by Amiga Inc. ”
Do you have any evidence whatever that this is the case?
“Bplan and Thendic need to show the market / customer that MorphOS + Pegasos combination will be faster
than Pentium IV (2 GHz) with WindowsXP or Pentium IV (2 GHz) with
Linux
X86.”
Everybody knows that there is a problem with the speed of the PPC.
However, millions of people do buy PPC-based computers. IMO there is a
market for a compact, responsive single-user OS with a useful range of
legacy software.
The PPC is a problem, but not necessarily a fatal one.
With regard to PPC CPUs, demo coders and developers who try to get the most out of our hardware, have told me that PPCs are alot faster per clock cycle compared to x86 CPUs.
However, currently the top model x86 CPUs outperform the top model PPC CPUs, but also offer different disadvantages (assembler, cooling, SMP, etc). IMO a well designed OS running making the most out of current PPC CPUs can easily offer a much faster overall experience compared to current mainstream x86 (and PPC) OSes.
Thanks for the links guys -I’ve followed them, and it looks like I’d have to pay around $500-$600 for the motherboard/CPU combo (sale ends 10/14 though which means i probably wouldn’t get it until these are being mass produced. Unless someone wants to toss ol’ Mr. Cancelled a few hundred dollars that is…).
And if I want a relatively complete setup, I’m looking at around $870 on up (This would include case, hard drive, memory, and so on).
So here’s my follow-up questions. Hopefully I’m not showing too much ignorance with these…
1. Based on previous postings and so on, if memory serves me correctly, Amiga OS4 will only be able to run on machines with an “official” Amiga approved bios. I think that last I heard, Pegosus was not one of these official machines though (Which kind of sucks as the Pegosus offering appears to be far nicer than the official Amiga One offerings).
So… Is there any expectation to be able to run Amiga V4 on these once it’s out? Would it require a hack if so, or has Amiga lightened up on their licensing stance yet?
2. Assuming Amiga V4 will not run on Pegosus, does anyone know if the official offerings (I think it’s Eyetech and someone else. Blizzard??)will allow one to upgrade the CPU as the Pegosus appears to do (A G3 to me is rather dated, but if I could just slap in a dual G4 when the mood and the money strikes, that’d be great!). The links I followed didn’t seem to indicate this one way or the other.
Also, can I expect similarly that MorphOS and/or OSX could be hacked to run on these official boards as they’re demonstrating that they do on Pegosus?
3. Am I naive in thinking that I could order a system from a German supplier and get it to run w/out a problem here in the US? I know that in some European contries, the power’s handled completely differently than here in the US. Should I expect this and wait for an official US release, or are these more or less guarenteed to run here?
4. And here’s the biggie: I’m an old hand at x68 systems. I can build em’, customize them, tweak them, etc.
However, other than basic usage, I’ve virtually no PPC hardware experience. Can I expect a huge learning curve as far as formatting, partitioning, and tweaking these PPC systems, ALSO is there going to be specifics to these 3rd party boards that would be different than many of the PPC tips I could pick up whilst hanging around the Apple forums and such? (Not talking OS here, but more the bios, setup and compatability of PPC systems).
Any help’s appreciated, again, thanks for the info and links. Very helpful!!
“1. Based on previous postings and so on, if memory serves me correctly, Amiga OS4 will only be able to run on machines with an “official” Amiga approved bios. I think that last I heard, Pegosus was not one of these official machines though”
That is correct.
“So… Is there any expectation to be able to run Amiga V4 on these once it’s out? Would it require a hack if so, or has Amiga lightened up on their licensing stance yet?”
It’d probably require a hack. From my point of view, it is highly likely that AmigaOS4 will run on the PEGASOS pretty soon after it is released. But *noone* can guarantee that this will actually happen. It’s upto you whether you want to take the .. ahem… “risk” of not being able to run AmigaOS4.0.
“4. Can I expect a huge learning curve as far as formatting, partitioning, and tweaking these PPC systems,”
I would think there is not much difference between PPC and x86 hardware in this regard. The PEGASOS board even has a VIA chipset on-board. It’s unbelievably small, but especially from an end-user perspective it’s far from being alien technology. I wouldn’t worry about it at all!
“2. Assuming Amiga V4 will not run on Pegosus, does anyone know if the official offerings (I think it’s Eyetech
and someone else. Blizzard??)will allow one to upgrade the CPU as the Pegosus appears to do (A G3 to me
is rather dated, but if I could just slap in a dual G4 when the mood and the money strikes, that’d be great!).
The links I followed didn’t seem to indicate this one way or the
other.
”
The first model from Eyetech is G3 only, non-upgradable. It will be
shortly followed by an upgradable model at a slightly higher price.
There is a trade in offer, but IMO if you want G4 it would be better
to wait until the G4 version is available. A prototype of this has
already been shown, and seems to be production ready.
I don’t know what is the maximum speed of G4 supported on these
boards.
As for European power, the boards work with standard PC cases and
power supply. The motherboard and CPU are the only “different”
hardware – everything else is standard PC kit.
>>Just like is planned for AmigaOS4.
Skinning is not planed for OS4. OS4.2 is planed to have skinning… This may have been brought forward, as a lot of things has, but i dont think so. Expect this feature in 4.2.
> 2. Assuming Amiga V4 will not run on Pegosus, does anyone
> know if the official offerings (I think it’s Eyetech and
> someone else. Blizzard??)…
It’s just Eyetech.
> …will allow one to upgrade the CPU…
Not with the AmigaOneG3-SE (= MAI TeronCX), but with the AmigaOne-XE (= MAI TeronPX).
http://www.eyetech.co.uk/amigaone/300502update.php
> Also, can I expect similarly that MorphOS and/or OSX could
> be hacked to run on these official boards as they’re
> demonstrating that they do on Pegosus?
MorphOS already runs on the AmigaOneG3-SE. Until now it wasn’t announced if or when MorphOS for AmigaOneG3-SE/TeronCX will be released. Ralph Schmidt, the main developer of MorphOS said that MorphOS will also be available for Macs one day.
For now OSX on Pegasos runs through MacOnLinux. This is already possible on the AmigaOneG3-SE as well.
>Bplan and Thendic need to show the market / customer that MorphOS +
>Pegasos combination will be faster than Pentium IV (2 GHz) with WindowsXP
>or Pentium IV (2 GHz) with Linux X86.
This won’t be hard really. Of course, PIV cpu is faster,
but when you compare the percentage use of cpu power by
each OSes MorphOS is much much faster than Windows, Linux or
MaxOSX (which is totaly unusable without plenty of cpu power).
Since the PEGASOS board doesn’t have the custom amiga chipset, I’m assuming they are not needed.
With that in mind, what are the odds that MorphOS could be / would be made to work on PowerMACs? Used PowerMACs are cheap.
“Since the PEGASOS board doesn’t have the custom amiga chipset, I’m assuming they are not needed.”
Yes, indeed.
“With that in mind, what are the odds that MorphOS could be / would be made to work on PowerMACs?”
There _plans_ to eventually port MorphOS to the Mac hardware platform. Don’t hold your breath, though.