====================================================================== // Amiga Update - News and Rumors // \X/ (A Very Occasional Newsletter) \X/ ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 040430 O S 4 . 0 D E V E L O P E R P R E - R E L G O E S G O L D ! O S 4 . 0 P R E - R E L S U P P O R T I N F O R M A T I O N O S 4 . 0 E V E N T I N E S S E N - K A T E R N B E R G A M I W E S T S H O W L I S T S G O A L S A M I G A F O R E V E R 6 . 0 F R O M C L O A N T O T W O N E W F R O M A I R S O F T N E W A M I G A S O N G P L A Y E R V E R S I O N T U R B O T E X T 2 . 0 I S F R E E W A R E Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: What's this? Has "Amiga Update" suddenly gone minimalist crazy and adopted a new, much simpler masthead? No, nothing of the sort. It's just that this month marks a very significant milestone in our history. With this issue, we complete 10 years of publishing at least one "Amiga Update" a month! The masthead above is the first one we used back in 1994, though the first few issues didn't even have that much. They were just mass mailings for a small group of Amiga users with whom we shared information after Commodore declared bankruptcy. Some 10 years later, AU is still at it. The date of that first issue was May 2, 1994 - the Monday that followed the Friday of the bankruptcy decleration. That issue and all subsequent issues are still available on our archive website. I'm certain there's no one on the subscribers' list from the days of those very first e-mailings, but there are some folks who have been with us from quite near the beginning. Our special thanks for keeping us company on this trip! It's been a long one, and it's not over yet. Our much more professional and artistic current masthead will return next issue, as we start year 11. And, just in time to celebrate our anniversary, we have some great news, and a milestone is involved in this, too. Our lead story this month announces Amiga OS 4.0 Developer Pre-Release going gold! This is probably the most important milestone so far in the creation of the new OS since the start of work. Looks like my fears that another change in ownership would end the efforts once and for all will be unfounded. I couldn't be more pleased to be wrong. There are some related stories in this issue as well. I think you'll find them all of interest. I suppose some will ask the question - will "Amiga Update" be around another ten years? I'm afraid that's not very likely. But we will be here for a while longer. And we hope to have most of you with us for the remainder of the trip, however long that might be. Brad Webb, Editor =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- O S 4 . 0 D E V E L O P E R P R E - R E L G O E S G O L D ! Leuven, Belgium - April 16, 2004. Hyperion Entertainment and the Amiga OS 4.0 development team are extremely pleased and relieved to announce that after nearly 30 months of painstaking development the Amiga OS 4.0 Developer Pre-release has gone gold and will be sent to the duplication plant on Monday, April 19, 2004. The Amiga OS 4.0 Developer Pre-release consists of a current snapshot of AmigaOS 4.0 for the AmigaOne platform with a straightforward HTML installation guide in English, German, French and Italian as well as the Amiga OS 4.0 SDK. The Amiga OS 4.0 SDK will allow near effortless migration of existing Amiga OS 3.x source-code to OS 4.0 as well as the creation of altogether new content. The SDK comprises the following material: * Complete Installer for easy and painless installation; * GNU C Compiler 2.95.3; * GNU C Compiler 3.4.0 RC 1; * vbcc 0.8f; * GNU GDB Source-Level Debugger; * System Includes V 50; * System Autodocs V 50; * PDF Documentation on GNU C compilers and GNU Debugger; * PDF Guide "Project Migration to AmigaOS 4.0"; * Example programs with source (among others: Reaction, expansion library, Roadshow, FFS2); * Newlib.library (experimential, shared C library); * CLIB2 source code. Users will be able to register their copy at a soon-to-be-launched portal site which will offer Amiga OS 4.0 related content for download. Hyperion Entertainment and the AmigaOS 4.0 development and beta-testing teams wish to thank all of you for your patience. Amiga OS 4.0 (c) 2004 Hyperion Entertainment, developed under license from KMOS, Inc. All rights reserved. "Amiga" and associated trademarks are registered trademarks of Amiga, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- O S 4 . 0 P R E - R E L S U P P O R T I N F O R M A T I O N {This story was spotted on the excellent Amiga-news.de site. Check them out if you haven't. Brad} 23 April, 2004 Soon AmigaOne with AmigaOS-Prerelease available As the management of Hyperion reports the AmigaOne computers will be sold with a prerelease CD of AmigaOS 4 after its publishing. Customers who buy an AmigaOne before the final version of AmigaOS 4 has published will get the same support and the same access to the updates (which will be online available) as "Earlybird"-owners. They will be delivered the full version of AmigaOS by their dealers after it is available. Prices for the combination of AmigaOne and the pre-release are still not known. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- O S 4 . 0 E V E N T I N E S S E N - K A T E R N B E R G 26 April, 2004 WHERE?: At the "Zukunft Zentrum Zollverein" (TripleZ) in Essen-Katernberg (Germany) WHEN?: Saturday, 15 May 2004 from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm WHAT?: Presentation of the current AmigaOS4 version, AmigaMicroA1 with AmigaOS4 WHO?: Representatives of Hyperion Entertainment The following employees of Hyperion Entertainment are going to be present at AmigaOS4 Event. Hans Jörg and Thomas Frieden (Chief programmers of AOS4), Steffen Haeuser (AmigaInput and several OS4 portings) and Timothy De Groote (Sales Manager). Besides that, Amiga MicroA1 with AmigaOS4 can be seen for the first time in Germany. For further information please refer to the official AmigaOS4 Event website. Admission to the AmigaOS4 Event is free. For your convenience,there is a local cafeteria to take care of your bodily needs.Additionally, there are about 50 free parking bays available onthe internal parking lot. http://home.arcor.de/andreas.weyrauch/amigaevent/indexen.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I W E S T S H O W L I S T S G O A L S 12 April, 2004 Here is the second information release for AmiWest 2004. Our webpage at www.sacc.org/amiwest is being updated with all the current show information. We encourage you to visit our site to see the rest of the current information. Amiga Forever, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club AmiWest 2004 Committee #################### AMIWEST 2004 - GOALS #################### From the beginning of the AmiWest shows, certain goals and objectives have been in evidence. While those who have been connected with the show are aware of most of those goals and objectives, many of you who attend may not be aware or may be new to the show. So for you (and to remind others), here are the things we are trying to accomplish with each and every AmiWest show. 1. First of all, we are providing a place for the Amiga community to gather. This gathering takes place from among a worldwide community of developers, users, retailers, and others interested in our great Amiga computers. Old friendships are renewed and new friends are made among the many attendees at AmiWest. User groups are especially encouraged to come and exhibit through a user group special rate policy detailed on our website. (see www.sacc.org/amiwest/exhibform.html#pricing) 2. Second, we provide a place for breaking news announcements of interest to the Amiga community. Companies who are part of the Amiga marketplace have always sent their representatives to announce significant developments. 3. Third, we provide an encouraging, peaceful atmosphere where even those in conflict can come, bury the hatchet, and meet in a high-energy environment for exchange of ideas. We tell those that are in conflict, legally or otherwise, to please leave their conflicts for other arenas. 4. Fourth, we provide a place where vendors can come to sell the latest and greatest Amiga technologies as well as some of the best tried and true Amiga hardware and software. Each has its advocates and we support the efforts of our vendors who support our show and make it possible. 5. And fifth, we try to be as educational as possible along the way. We're working on a few surprises this year as we try to do every year. We're also continuing our practice of giving qualified presenters a platform to demonstrate what the Amiga can do. So remember, AmiWest 2004 is rolling! The facility is reserved and the vendors are notified! Keep watching for these releases and tell everyone that you know - the Amiga and the Amiga community is alive and well! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A F O R E V E R 6 . 0 F R O M C L O A N T O April 15, 2004 - Cloanto released today version 6.0 of Amiga Forever, the Classic Amiga emulation, OS, connectivity and support suite officially licensed by the Amiga companies. Amiga Forever is available in a downloadable Online Edition and in a CD Edition which includes premium content of historical interest (all Amiga OS versions, gallery, videos, games) and KX Light. All versions of Amiga Forever include Amiga OS 1.3 and 3.X files and make it possible to run Classic Amiga software (including hundreds of legally downloadable games) on any PC, with special support for the Windows platform, but also compatible with Mac OS X and GNU/Linux systems. Amiga Forever 6.0 is a completely restructured package which took more than two years to complete. New features include: - Preinstalled Amiga applications more than doubled (both in the 3.X and in the 1.3 environments) - Support for hard disks larger than 4 GB, mouse wheel, AHI, MUI, etc. - Built-in web browser, great for both "safe surfing" and for cross-browser web design testing (e.g. to see how your sites look without Java, Flash or ActiveX) - CDs are now automounted in real time (includes CacheCDFS file system) - Built-in CD audio player and media player - New Amiga ROM and OS files (as in Amiga OS "3.5" and "3.9", but also historical items such as the Amiga 1000 boot ROM) - New reference configurations (for A500, A1200, CDTV, CD32, etc.) - More than 10 "First Demos" (Boing, Robo-City, Juggler, etc.) added to 1.3 environment - More realistic emulation (e.g. floppy disk drive sound, which makes an unexpected big difference in perception, but also required the addition of a good old "noclick" utility ;-) - New documentation (HTML shared by both Amiga and host OS) - Amiga Explorer 6.0 software - New launcher panel with one-click controls - New Software Manager for easy emulation news and updates The CD Edition of Amiga Forever additionally includes the following new features: - Boot from CD option (featuring the KX Light GNU/Linux distribution) - New Gallery section (includes 1985 Byte Magazine reprint) - New high quality videos (includes Launch of Amiga New York event) - New preinstalled games (Mindwalker, Ports of Call, Deluxe Galaga, etc.) (Please refer to the Amiga Forever web site for important additional information and screenshots.) Classic Amiga software compatibility is achieved by means of an Amiga hardware emulation layer (configurable to emulate different Amiga models and custom chip sets) and different versions of the original Amiga OS (not an emulation). The Amiga environment in turn relies on host operating system functionality to transparently enable modern features such as up-to-date hardware drivers, virtual memory, WiFi networking, DirectX technology, advanced power management, Serial ATA storage, etc. Amiga Forever 6.0 was scheduled to be featured on 3sat TV's "neues" show, on April 17, at 18:30 (via Astra satellite), and at the Amiga Party in Maarssen, the Netherlands, also on April 17. As always, the Amiga Forever Team at Cloanto would like to thank the Amiga Community for its support over these almost 20 years, which made this new version possible. LINKS Amiga Forever Home Page http://www.amigaforever.com Amiga Forever RSS Feed http://www.amigaforever.com/rss.xml Amiga Forever Banners http://www.amigaforever.com/banners/ Cloanto Logo Graphics http://www.cloanto.com/profile/#logo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- T W O N E W F R O M A I R S O F T 14 April, 2004: Hollywood Designer 1.0 released Hollywood Designer 1.0 was finally released today and can be ordered on this website. The program is a high-end presentation software that creates together with Hollywood 1.9 the ultimate Multimedia suite for your Amiga or Pegasos. Please check out the product page of Hollywood Designer for an extensive description and feature list of the program as well as a lot of screenshots. Order now! 06 April, 2004: Hollywood 1.9 now available Hollywood 1.9 is now available and can be ordered through this website. Hollywood 1.9 is a major update that has a lot of new features. Please see the news item below for a list of new features. Hollywood Designer will be released in a few days and can also be ordered now. Please click on Order to order your copy of Hollywood 1.9 and Hollywood Designer now! Also check out the product page of Hollywood to learn more about this amazing product. http://www.airsoftsoftwair.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W A M I G A S O N G P L A Y E R V E R S I O N 23 April, 2004 After a long wait, the updated Songplayer has finally been given an AmigaOS release. The CDDA management will be improved in the future, but you will find a new tag editor for that. The CPU consumption is back to a low level the program features far improved mp3 support (still no ogg-vorbis at the moment, that is MOS only atm). Another version allows you to use SongPlayer without any hardware hit (full AHI and no filter access). It is better suited for use with Amithlon and OS4 under emulation. General features SongPlayer tries to use the best of the hardware and the system components (MUI, AHI, asyncio, datatypes, ...). For example the AmigaOS version uses assembly and the audio chipset called Paula. On the other side, the MorphOS version adds graphical improvements (24-bit icons and images) and uses the SystemV ABI for the vorbisfile.library. o Usable in command lines or with its complete GUI under MUI o Support of many formats : MP2/MP3, Ogg Vorbis, IFF, AIFF, WAVE, AU, CDDA o Specific version for AmigaOS, MorphOS, Amithlon o Karaoke ! o CDDA playing through audio extraction o ARexx port for an external control o Bass and treble o Graphical gadgets : CPU used, vumeters, spectrum analyser o Effect that plays mono files in a pseudo-stereo mode http://amigadev.free.fr/songplayer/index_en.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- T U R B O T E X T 2 . 0 I S F R E E W A R E 3 April, 2004 It is with great pleasure that, in honour of AmiGBG 2004, Tim Ocock announces that Martin Taillefer has kindly permitted his original TurboText 2.0 text editor to be released as freeware. TurboText is one of the Amiga's best text editors, but has not been available for sale for around 10 years. It's features include: -Very fast loading and scrolling -Style Guide compliant -Highly customisable -Full ARexx command set with integration with major applications http://www.monkeyhouse.eclipse.co.uk/amiga/turbotext/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Amiga Update on the net: All back issues available at: http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html Stop by and check out our archive! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ A M I G A /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ U P D A T E / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ amigaupdate@globaldialog.com ======================================================================