Why the next generation of Amigas must include RISC technology

               The Future Of The Amiga - My Opinion 
               
               
     So, another day has come and gone, and still we're apparently only
 another day left in the dark as to what is going on with our beloved
 micro.  In the meantime, PC's are surging forward with their technology -
 both in software and hardware.  It's sad to see how far behing the Amiga
 is now, compared to the massive lead it enjoyed a mere eight or nine years
 ago.  There is no question that these are dark times for the Amiga, but
 now that Escom has succeeded, what will they really be getting for their
 troubles (and money - Ed)?

     The operating system really is the jewel in the Amiga's crown.  That,
 above all else, should be preserved and improved upon.  Despite the PC's
 advances, the only two true pre-emptive multitasking operating systems on
 that platform are OS/2 and WindowsNT.  Try getting them to multitask in
 1MB of memory!  WindowsNT in particular, will load in 8MB, run in 16MB,
 but likes 32MB of memory.  Escom should be made aware of what they've got
 with AmigaDOS, and this brings me neatly to my next point.

     It is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that the new owners should move swiftly to
 the concept of a multi-platform machine.  It is no longer acceptable for
 an Amiga not to be able to run Word 6, Windows, CorelDraw or Quark Express
 when need be.  The PC platform will always have the biggest user-base, and
 no-one, no matter how good their system is, is ever going to touch that.
 A fast RISC machine could handle Motorola 680x0 and Intel 80x86 emulation
 at reasonable speeds - allowing users to select the operating system of
 their choice.  A re-write of AmigaDOS would be required (and at this
 point, long-asked-for extensions to Exec such as memory protection and
 virtual memory could be added) for this new system, which should be a top
 priority and developed in parallel with the new machine.

     Once all this is up and running, the AGA and AAA technologies which
 have been bought should be licensed out, to allow third-party
 manufacturers to bring out Amiga emulation cards for the "normal" PC's -
 allowing the millions of PC owners out there to run AmigaDOS on their PC
 and play Amiga games.  This would have a knock-on effect of raising
 awareness of the Amiga, and raising the profile of the new company
 considerably.

     With all this, you might be screaming that "this isn't an Amiga!" and
 "What about backwards compatability?".  To answer the first, the computing
 world is changing.  As PC's become more prevelant - its folly for Amiga
 users to hide themselves in their own little cucoon and pretend it doesn't
 affect them.  Standards are being drawn in the cut-and-throat bustle of
 the marketplace, and unless something is done, the new Amiga Corporation
 will be left out in the cold, the Amiga with it, and you and me.  For the
 second question, backwards compatability is frankly the least of C='s
 worries.  The Amiga is such a tiny market in the grand scheme of things -
 with the vast majority of Amiga owners owning out-dated ECS technology.  A
 suitable analogy might be the difference between a horse & cart and a
 motor car.  When the motor car was appearing, did horse and cart owners
 start yelling: "Why can't I fit a saddle to it?" "Why won't it shit on my
 lawn?" and "Why doesn't it eat grass ?".  The simple answer is: No.
 Technology moves on, and the sad fact of the matter is that you have to
 either keep up, put up, or shut up.  It's the whole idea behind computing.

     Developer support should be a priority also. The old Developer Support
 Program needs a serious re-think before it can be restarted.  First of
 all, software companies & individuals should be encouraged to develop for
 the machine, rather than discouraged as was the case in "the bad old
 days".  Autodocs and Includes should be available free of charge online,
 or from PD libraries to all who want them.  Technical support should be
 free for first time members for at least a year after registering.  It's
 no use trying to get people to commit to writing for a non-standard
 machine with a relatively small user-base when you demand an initial
 outlay to get going.  Once they've been developing for a year or more, and
 hopefully getting some money back from their efforts, then it seems fair
 enough to charge them - but not before.

     In short then, I hope desperately that at least some of these ideas
 will be employed by the new owners of the Amiga.  I've owned an Amiga
 since 1987, when the first A500's first started shipping this side of the
 pond, and a C= 64 before then.  Now I own a 486-DX2 66 also, and I see how
 far behind we are in terms of everything except the operating system.  I'm
 not overly concerned with fancy graphics, my life is not based on how many
 pixels I can fit on a screen, but I love the Amiga and I love the way the
 system is designed, and in order for it to survive, the new owners have to
 accept that the market is not the same as it was when the Amiga first
 appeared, nor is it even the same as when C= themselves went bust.  My
 dream is that in an ever changing world, it should be "Amiga", not
 "Microsoft" that springs to the mind of every layman even remotely
 interested in computing.