3 ms·

Very interesting article, I've only vaguely heard of the more modern Amiga computers. Looking at https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/index.php/where-to-buy/

• mark_round 3y ago
  OS 4.x runs on PowerPC processors, and there are a bunch of dedicated systems like the X1000, X5000 or SAM460EP. You can also run a "classic" OS 4.x version in emulators or on classic Amigas fitted with PowerPC accelerators. You could always snag a used Mac Mini PPC and run MorphOS on it for a similar experience; MorphOS is a sort of "off-shoot" from the Amiga family tree but has very active development including up to date browsers like https://wayfarer.icu https://wayfarer.icu. Hyperion have also released updated and bug-fixed versions of "classic" AmigaOS, and you can purchase the ROM sets and disks for e.g. OS 3.2 to use with an original machine like your A500. For HDMI output, I use an Indivision card. It's a little fiddly to fit (has to clip in over the top of some other chips) but gives a great stable and crystal-clear DVI or HDMI output. There are also external "flicker fixer" boxes or scandoublers that turn the Amiga 15KHz video output into something useable by modern displays, but in my experience they tend not to give as good quality output or have lag issues when playing games.
  • vidarh 3y ago
    To add to the MorphOS option, there's also AROS which aims for more Amiga compatibility, but also runs natively on x86 PCs or hosted under Linux (you get a window with the full AROS desktop) w/out a VM if you want. (At one point I had a AROS setup that booted straight into FrexxEd with my Linux home directory made available, and Linux-hosted AROS "booted" the entire OS and started FrexxEd faster than my admittedly bloated Emacs setup would start....)
    • actionfromafar 3y ago
      To me the most interesting AROS is the 68000 port of AROS, which enables fully open source Amiga hardware clones and emulators.
• bluescrn 3y ago
  Not the cheapest option, but the OSSC (Open Source Scan Converter) may be a worthwhile investment if you're into retro gaming/computing: https://videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-scan-converter/ https://videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-scan-co... You'll need an Amiga RGB SCART cable to connect the Amiga to it.
• danby 3y ago
  Ok so it's worth noting that the AmigaOS has two completely separate branches in use today: 3.x and 4.x 4.x is targeted to amigas with PPC CPUs or PPC based accelerators (mid to late 90s accelertors and some newer things like the X5000) 3.x is targeted to amigas with m68k CPUS (all the commodore era machines) Both 3.x and 4.x are under active development today. The latest 3.x is AmigaOS 3.2.2. The latest 4.x is AmigaOS4.1 With regards support, the A500 is still the best supported Amiga. Its install base and current user base dwarves that of all the other models and accelerators. There were just so many more A500s sold than any other type of amiga. I would not be surprised if you told me that there 2 or 3 orders of magnitude more A500s than PPC amigas out there. So if you are developing for the amiga and want your software used by lots of folk then targeting the A500 will get it infront of the most eyeballs. Today though most people buy some kind of accelerator for their amiga and the Terrible Fire (TF536) or Individual Computers (ACA500plus) accelerator cards seem to be the most favoured modern choices. Neither of these choices are PPC based cards and the amiga community still favours m68k CPUs. WRT the battery, the standard A500 did not ship with a battery on the motherboard, only the A500+ did. Some RAM upgrade cards do have a VARTA battery and those could still damage the RAM upgrade card and should be removed. Sidenote: AmigaOS 3.5 and 3.9 are actually a kinda separate abandoned branch but features of these have been backported to the 3.2 branch.
• Lucretia9 3y ago
  Put in a pistorm and the new roms.