BRAIL@SEISMO.CSS.GOV (08/24/85)
From InfoWorld, August 26, 1985: OPERATING SYSTEMS RUSHED ... Commodore/Amiga's operating system, Amiga DOS, will be supplied on two 'kickstart' disks to the initial purchasers of the computer, according to Rick Geiger, general manager of Commodore/Amiga at Los Gatos, California. Both computer companies [Commodore & Atari] say they will eventually perfect their operating systems and manufacture read-only memory (ROM) chips, for which slots exist inside the machines, and begin shipping the computers with ROM-based operating systems as soon as they are available. Neither company will say, however, when those ROMs will be ready. ... ... At Commodore/Amiga, delayed production of the ROM is primarily related to quality control. "If you remember back when the Macintosh was introduced, Apple was guilty of design oversight," Geiger says. "That's not going to happen to us. We've already exerted an enormous quality assurance effort, but it's inevitable that when the machine gets wider distribution, you find things. When people come back and say, why didn't you do this, or make some small tweak, we will have the ability to do that." Geiger says that because of this, early Amiga purchasers will not be penalized. Those purchasers will be able to obtain updated versions of Amiga DOS from dealers, or by mail, if the computer owners have sent in registration cards. "If there is a charge, it will be nominal," says Geiger. ... ..."At the moment, the plan is those machines will not be retrofitted with ROM," he says, "Our expectation is nobody's going to request that. Obviously, is we're inundated with requests, we'll figure out a way to do it." ... In the Amiga, Amiga DOS loads into a special section of RAM, the "writeable control store," which becomes write-protected as soon as it is loaded, according to Miner. That leaves 256K of RAM free for programs and data -- 512K if users are able to obtain the RAM expansion option that will be sold for the Amiga. Many software developers, including Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates, note that the Amiga and Atari operating systems still contain too many bugs to be converted to ROM form at this time. One Amiga software developer says his prototype computer crashed every 15 minutes. "It's an utter fallacy that it's easier to program than the Macintosh," says Marc Canter, president of Macro Mind of Chicago. Carter says problems with Amiga DOS go beyond known bugs. "We're totally infuriated with the double-button mouse," he says. Canter says Macintosh programmers are confused by a mouse with a left-hand button dedicated to starting functions and a right one to displaying and hiding menus... The ultimate solution will be found in sensible software design, and the learning curve on the Amiga is just beginning for most developers. "It's not incredibly straightforward to use the custon chips," says Jay Miner, vice president of product development at Commodore/Amiga. Comparing the 256K Amiga operating system to the 128K Macintosh ROM, Miner says, "I don't know that much about the Mac tools, but I do know the nature of the Mac tools wasn't anywhere near complete enough to handle the problems we have had. I would tend to think there's much more in our toolkit. ------------- That answers the question about where Amiga DOS is located, but it's too bad they're planning to put in in ROM. I liked the idea of the writeable control store. Maybe someone would have ported UN*X to the thing, and I could have either Amiga DOS or the UN*X kernel in the WCS. Maybe there will be a market of old Amigas (with the WCS) for hacker-types (see previous messages for definition of 'hacker') who like to fiddle with operating systems. -------
hull@hao.UUCP (Howard Hull) (08/24/85)
> From InfoWorld, August 26, 1985: > > OPERATING SYSTEMS RUSHED > ... > Both computer companies [Commodore & Atari] say they will > eventually perfect their operating systems and manufacture read-only > memory (ROM) chips, for which slots exist inside the machines, and > begin shipping the computers with ROM-based operating systems as soon > as they are available. Neither company will say, however, when those > ROMs will be ready. > ... Hmmmn. Does this mean that only the "first rev" production will have the writable control store, and that if you ever expect to have control over your operating system you'll have to right off hop on your horse and get down there in time for a first edition, and then have to eat proto bugs for the rest of your Amiga's life? Ah, Silane-ware at its grandest... Howard Hull [If yet unproven concepts are outlawed in the range of discussion... ...Then only the deranged will discuss yet unproven concepts] {ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | harpo!seismo } !hao!hull
warack@aero.ARPA (Chris Warack) (08/27/85)
ity for the OS that would allow any arbitrary change to the OS. The Mac has this capability, and that was why it didn't hurt to have the 'reliable' parts of the OS to be put in ROM at the beginning. Changes are kept as INIT resources [?] which are loaded in at initialization and replace the faulty/undesirable ROM routines. Commodore doesn't 'need' this with the WCS since it is all loaded in at initialization, but it should have it for later. Chris -- _______ |/-----\| Chris Warack (213) 648-6617 ||hello|| || || warack@aerospace.ARPA |-------| warack@aero.UUCP |@ ___ | seismo!harvard!talcott!panda!genrad!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest! |_______| sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwrba!aero!warack || || \ Aerospace Corporation, M1-117, El Segundo, CA 90245 ^^^ ^^^ `---------(|=
peter@baylor.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (08/29/85)
> ... > ..."At the moment, the plan is those machines will not be > retrofitted with ROM," he says, "Our expectation is nobody's going to > request that. Obviously, is we're inundated with requests, we'll > figure out a way to do it." > ... Any way to request that a ROM system be retrofitted with RAM? I don't like having something as vital as the O/S cast in stone like that. -- Peter (Made in Australia) da Silva UUCP: ...!shell!neuro1!{hyd-ptd,baylor,datafac}!peter MCI: PDASILVA; CIS: 70216,1076