rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) (09/18/85)
> In article <536@x.UUCP> john@x.UUCP (John Woods) writes: > >> In article <584@brl-tgr.ARPA> LAVITSKY@RU-BLUE.ARPA (Eric) writes: > >> > Yes, there is a 'Kickstart' disk that you must have on power > >> >up..... > >> > >> From pictures it seems the Amiga just has another 256K of DRAMs that the > >> OS is loaded into. Who cares if it is "hardware locked"? The Amiga OS > >>must be pretty buggy if the designers went to the trouble of write protecting > >>the OS memory. In an appliance computer such as the Amiga, you should *never* > >> have to reset the machine! > > That is, if you only run canned software that is in itself 100% bug free.. > A computer that never needs to be reset? I guess that will be along about the > same time as the VAX/laptop :-) > > > >First, you must remember that occaisionally we mere mortals who program make > >mistakes. I would much rather have an OS bug *not* smash the OS than go ahead > >and smash it. I would even be more ecstatic to be able to get a new revision > >of their OS by just changing Kickstart disks, rather than opening up the cheap > >plastic container (damaging those *&^%^*@# Phillips head screws in the > >process) and popping in new ROMS (bending pin 16 while I'm at it...). > > > > > Imagine that you bought a new model of computer, one that would fit your needs > perfectly. Imagine then that you found out that the OS (in ROM, as you > wanted) has a bug which prevents you from using a certain peripheral/software > package which was what you really wanted to do. You then find out that in the > six months since you bought the machine, the manufacturer has come out with > a new revision of the OS that fixes the problem. If you are lucky, the > manufacturer has a program to upgrade the machines with the old ROMs, Like choosing between those new APPLE Proms or The Mega Max (kinda hard to switch back and forth) > otherwise you can buy a new machine, or keep the one you bought which does not > do what you want. What do you think of kickstart disks now? This happened > to me, and I had to buy a new machine. I am going to buy an Amiga, and I am > sure glad they are putting the OS in RAM. Any OS this sophisiticated will no > doubt be improved in time. I want to be able to upgrade, not replace. > > > > >Three cheers and a bunny for the Amiga developers! > > > More cheers, and please hurry up and get it in the stores. > > -- > +---------------------------------------------+ > | allegra\ Randy Horton @ Fortune Systems | > | cbosgd \ | > | dual >!fortune!ranhome!randy | > | ihnp4 / | > | nsc / Clever disclaimer goes here | > +---------------------------------------------+ Good thing the ram is expandable! (HINT,HINT,HINT ATARI) (see net.micro.atari)
nep.pgelhausen@AMES-VMSB.ARPA (09/18/85)
(Without including the previous messages here....briefly this was a discussion of the Amiga's OS being on a kickstart disk instead of ROM. Someone thought they were taking the cheap way out, the other person seemed to think it was good for OS updates. (I don't really know why this was on info-atari, but I am interested in both machines and will reply anyway)) There is another reason for the Kickstart disk approach. In the latest Compute! (wait a bit for it, if you don't have a subscription) they mention that Commodore has made the Amiga IBM compatible COMPLETELY IN SOFTWARE! Try doing THAT with a burned-in OS! -Richard Hartman max.hartman@ames-vmsb ------