UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer) (08/15/89)
In article <7360@microsoft.UUCP>, t-jondu@microsoft.UUCP (Jonathan Dubman) says: >Rumor has it an Amiga 3000 with 68030 will be available very soon... Commodore has a 68030 based speedup board it calls the A2630, but no current announced Amiga 3000 model. Amounts to the same thing. In many ways, the Amiga makes a good little brother to NeXT and other Unix workstations.
jac@muslix.llnl.gov (James Crotinger) (08/16/89)
In article <89227.105540UH2@PSUVM> UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer) writes: >In article <7360@microsoft.UUCP>, t-jondu@microsoft.UUCP (Jonathan Dubman) says: >>Rumor has it an Amiga 3000 with 68030 will be available very soon... > >Commodore has a 68030 based speedup board it calls the A2630, but no current >announced Amiga 3000 model. Amounts to the same thing. > Not quite true. Commodore *has* announced an A3000 machine, and it is not at all clear that it will have anything to do with the soon to be released A2630 card (rumors seem to indicate that the A3000 will have that '030 on the motherboard, but these are rumors...). Jim
don@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Donald R Lloyd) (08/16/89)
In article <30761@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> jac@muslix.UUCP (James Crotinger) writes: >In article <89227.105540UH2@PSUVM> UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer) writes: >>In article <7360@microsoft.UUCP>, t-jondu@microsoft.UUCP (Jonathan Dubman) says: >>>Rumor has it an Amiga 3000 with 68030 will be available very soon... >> I doubt it will appear until next year. I beleive it will need some of the new graphics libraries available in v1.4 of the OS, which is in alpha (possibly beta?) testing now. I'd say maybe first quarter of next year (a rather uneducated guess, I'll admit, but CBM isn't talking...) >>Commodore has a 68030 based speedup board it calls the A2630, but no current >>announced Amiga 3000 model. Amounts to the same thing. >> > > Not quite true. Commodore *has* announced an A3000 machine, and it is >not at all clear that it will have anything to do with the soon to >be released A2630 card (rumors seem to indicate that the A3000 will >have that '030 on the motherboard, but these are rumors...). > I don't think they've "Officially Announced" the A3000....they've just "Officially Announced" that it will be '030 based (they've announced what their unnanounced product will have when it's announced? 8) The 2630 (25 MHz '030, 68882, some memory) should be around very soon. It's been shipping in Europe for several months (apparently). The 2500UX should also show up shortly. It's sort of '030 based... a stock a2000 (68000) w/ the 2630, a 100 meg 19ms HD, 150 meg tape drive, & some version of Unix (not sure which one). Commodore's even (finally!) prepairing networking products for the amiga (arcnet cards, Novell software), so that you CAN network 'em to NeXT's & other workstation-type units, as somebody mentioned a message or two back, without having to buy a $900 ameristar ethernet card. Gee, maybe I shoulda posted this on Comp.sys.amiga..... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- Don Lloyd El Campeador don@vax1.acs.udel.edu | | |Gibberish is | DISCLAIMER: don@pyr1.acs.udel.edu | | |spoken here. | My employers are idiots. They wouldn't understand | | --------------- my babbling even if they WERE literate enough to read it. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t-jondu@microsoft.UUCP (Jonathan Dubman) (08/17/89)
>>Rumor has it an Amiga 3000 with 68030 will be available very soon... > >Commodore has a 68030 based speedup board it calls the A2630, but no current >announced Amiga 3000 model. Amounts to the same thing. > >In many ways, the Amiga makes a good little brother to NeXT and other Unix >workstations. A little digression: (Direct followups to appropriate newsgroup) A standard Amiga 2000 with an '030 speedup board is _not_ the same thing- an "Amiga 3000" implies a whole system designed around the '030, both hardware and software, with protected memory, virtual memory, lots of memory. I would also hope for an improved graphics chip set since the '030 could probably go faster than the blitter. Commodore should follow the example of Apple and Atari(?) and come out with a lower-cost 3-slot 68030 machine with improved graphics and a SCSI interface with internal floppy and room for 3.5 inch hard disk, using SIMMS expandable to 8 meg on board, with socket for math coprocessor, and they should fix AmigaDOS and speed up floppy directories. They should forget the PC compatibility and go for the upgrade and workstation markets. They should come out with a commercially viable UNIX implementation with Intuition on the top and improve the programmer's interface. They should come out with a new set of documentation with the corresponding release. They should convince some large software companies to write productivity software, which any computer needs, and move towards the low-end graphics workstation market now inadequately serviced by the Mac II, the PS/2, and some of the more costly workstations, while continuing to pursue the low-end home market with aggressive pricing and distribution. That is the recommendation of "We Told You So, Inc.", my private consulting firm. :-) Look at the ratio of IIcx to IIx sales to realize the importance of a neat package. As you can see, an Amiga 2000 with a 68030 in it does not cut the mustard. I saw one at a computer show a year ago with a 68882. You know what it was doing? Really fast Mandelbrots. As Greg Williams said in his 1985 article on the introduction of the Amiga 1000, regardless of the fate of Commodore, we will be seeing many of the ideas that the Amiga pioneered for years to come. I believe the Amiga pioneered in these areas: (Mindset may share some credit) 1. Multitasking OS (32-bit clean) 2. Windowing interface with color 3. Auto-configuring peripherals 4. Video coprocessor for animation, mixed video modes, etc. 5. Blitter in parallel with hardware line drawing, area fill, etc. 6. Stereo sound chip with DMA 7. Genlock for TV titling Others? What did the NeXT pioneer? Regardless of the fate of NeXT, Inc., I believe we will be seeing many ideas that the cube pioneered for years to come. Jonathan Dubman