So, Amiga really aren't doing hardware? That's right, though Amiga have definitely said they want to provide reference platforms, with desktop, notebook and PDA examples cropping up in Bill McEwen's Executive Updates. The examples are standard, current computer technology - safe, secure, traditional concepts spanning the usual range of what the public perceive a computer to be. They're important things to keep in mind because no matter what the plans for pervasive and ubiquitous computing, those three types aren't going to go away just yet - though they may change noticeably. In fact, the desktop is going to be the key: it's the ideal software development platform, so developers aren't going to lose it without a struggle, while the home environment is going to need the 'child of the desktop' to act as some form of home server.
With developers being the vital core of the community required to build the new Amiga environment, Amiga took the important early step of releasing a development reference platform along with a hosted layer of the new OS. Functional, rough round the edges, based on inexpensive standard PC hardware, using Linux (and soon Windows) as a host, but a goldmine for developers to explore and expand upon. The new Amiga's infancy has already started in such humble origins, and we're just scratching the surface. Whether you classify that as new Amiga hardware is down to personal opinion, but it probably won't be a significant leap in concept from the rumoured AmigaOne desktop machine likely to hit the streets by the end of the year. The revolution will be in the OS, and the pervasiveness of the technology, not the hardware as such. Though that's not to say with partners like Matrox in on the deal we'll be getting something second rate in the bare metal department, far from it.
But enough of the rumours, what has been revealed so far? Well, the two announcements of definite
