MorphOS - The "Amiga Like" OS

[LambdaCalculus379]

I'm also running MorphOS on a Mac Mini G4 I picked up from eBay for super cheap. It's lightning fast on the system; dare I say it runs rings around Mac OS X 10.4, especially in terms of system bootup and application launching!

 

I replaced the old 40GB hard drive with a 120GB SSD (a spare mSATA drive in a PATA adapter), and the performance has since shot through the roof; MorphOS used to boot in about 10 seconds (from initial logo to the desktop), and with the SSD it takes only about 2 seconds! Since it's great for running system friendly Amiga apps on (basically anything that doesn't bang on the custom chipset), I'll be keeping it around for some Amiga-like action while I get my Amiga 4000 recapped and repaired!

[+Gemintronic]

I've tried MorphOS a few years ago. It was FAAAAASST!

 

Zero security other than security by obscurity.

 

I didn't buy it due to the weird per computer license process. I'd pull the trigger if they went license key only.

[eightbit]

I didn't like the license terms either. I never liked being tied to a machine. I purchased some emulators for the Tapwave Zodiac back in the day that were like that, and then my Zodiac died and I had it replaced with the manufacturer. It was hell getting in touch with the developer of those emulators to reinstate my licenses for the new machine. After that I never use software that is activated in such a way...tied to the physical hardware ID.

[+OLD CS1]

I've tried MorphOS a few years ago. It was FAAAAASST!

 

Zero security other than security by obscurity.

 

I didn't buy it due to the weird per computer license process. I'd pull the trigger if they went license key only.

 

What about the license process turns you off? I got my license easily, and they will transfer your license for you if your system dies. I think they will do it if you move to a new machine -- not sure about that one.

 

We are all waiting for the next release, though. Supposed to bring some good new stuff.

[eightbit]

Well, what if "they" disappear? They never make a promise that they will always be there for you, and I wouldn't expect them to make that promise of course. But if they pack up shop, drop the OS and take down their website, then what? Well, I guess you'll be fine if the one activated machine continues to work. But if it dies and you want to use the license on another machine and have no way of activating...well you are screwed. That is what turns me off in a nutshell. I would much rather have a key that I can use independent of relying on them to activate it for me.

[+OLD CS1]

Well, what if "they" disappear? They never make a promise that they will always be there for you, and I wouldn't expect them to make that promise of course. But if they pack up shop, drop the OS and take down their website, then what? Well, I guess you'll be fine if the one activated machine continues to work. But if it dies and you want to use the license on another machine and have no way of activating...well you are screwed. That is what turns me off in a nutshell. I would much rather have a key that I can use independent of relying on them to activate it for me.

 

"They" disappearing is always a risk. This is the reality to which us old farts who like owning things must succumb. This is the landscape of the new digital economy: products become as virtual as the money which pays for them; everything is subscription, nothing perpetual. I expect the old ways to return as our grandchildren "discover" the awesomeness of one-to-one interaction between merchant and customer and the magic of "un-boxing" as though both have never been seen in this world, and they spurn the ways of their parents' ambivalence toward cheap items which are not worth repairing or returning as defective, ownership at the sole whim of the seller, memories of events which last as long as their news timeline, and entertainment and enrichment habits dictated by the materials made available and unavailable by some benevolent board of decision makers in some far-off office (or collaborative cloud A.I.) all for a modest monthly fee and free delivery-by-drone.

 

On the up-side, with several disparate hands in the MorphOS project I expect, as has happened with a number of Amiga programs, a community key would be released. Otherwise I suspect there are a number of talented hackers in the community who could bypass the trial limitations.

 

Even if not, by the time my MacMini expires I surely will have gotten my $100-worth from it.