I finally did it, and took a bold step. I couldn't hang around for it any longer. It's the end of an era. Back in 1990, it changed my life - but now it's going to vanish from my life forever.
No, I'm not ditching the Amiga... I'm ditching DeluxePaint...
DeluxePaint was the first piece of serious software I ever used on an Amiga. It was a huge step up from Electric Pencil on the CBM Plus/4 - so much colour, so much user-friendliness, so much power! Computer graphics were no longer a chore, but an intuitive and exciting endeavour. DPaint was very much an Amiga application, even to the extent that it was almost built-in to the machine, being bundled with almost every Amiga under the Commodore era. When DPaint II was replaced with my A4000's copy of DPaint IV AGA, the power and wonder moved another dozen steps upward. Even though I use Photogenics for most of my graphics work today, there are still many things DPaint excels at. It has enjoyed an important place on my hard drive - but no longer.
DPaint has been pushed aside and, while DPaint V is guaranteed to help keep the line alive, I really don't feel it can cut it anymore. It was a hard decision, but I needed to move on, buy some new software and push some of my hard earned cash into the hands of programmers who are doing their bit for the Amiga. Perhaps it sounds a bit idealistic, but it was a decision I made carefully - and now I've ordered a copy of Personal Paint 7.1 on CD-ROM.
Software is the blood, so to speak, of any computer system. Applications software drives the machine, so it's important to go out and keep that flow of software going. There's no ignoring the fact that things are still hard for software developers on the Amiga, we all need to go out and give them the support they deserve. Keep up with the upgrades, like the excellent Wordworth 7 on CD, and let the developers know that their software is being used and enjoyed. The best thing is that you can all do it right now. It doesn't take a PowerPC Amiga or an A\BOX to do it, nor does it have to involve much money, but by doing so you can pave the way for the next generation of Amigas.
Recently, Syzygy were investigating continuing the Amiga version of their Digital Universe software. Naturally, I mailed them with support - though I wasn't that interested at the time. It was a good thing to do - but what happens when they go out and develop the product, and no one buys it? A bad move, and another developer is lost. Things like this need support, backed up by a physical need.
Syzygy released a demo of Digital Universe on Aminet, which I downloaded out of interest and actually enjoyed. To cut a long story short, I'm going to order a copy of version 1.03 on CD and then upgrade to the new version if it makes it to release. By supporting the older version, I've added something more than just "You must develop for Amiga" comments, I've contributed something tangible - something which is far more valuable than your words and support.
The InsideOut card, which fits an Amiga on a PCI card, is almost ready. Much as I love the idea, it is of no use to me - at least not for the moment. I could rave to the developers about how cool it is, but that doesn't pay bills. Putting an advance order would be stupid, so I did the next best thing - I advertised it to a friend.
This friend is a co-founder of a company, which has recently unveiled a PCI-based StrongARM computer (bundled with NetBSD). What started out as a jokey e-mail response to his recent press release, ended in me forwarding the URLs of Siamese, Index Information and HiQ. He actually seemed interested, though I'm not sure if he would actually take the InsideOut and work it into his machine - unless the right incentive was there. I think he'd need a serious nudge to consider taking it towards a StrongARM Amiga, but he does have a team of programmers experienced in porting operating systems, and he did seem intrigued.
Is anyone else be interested in a StrongARM Amiga? Should I start the campaign now? The StrongARM may not be as fast or as trendy as a PowerPC or Alpha, but it does offer a fast, low-cost system - less than proposed designs based upon PowerPC or Alpha technology.