Due to recent developments, this information is no longer current. A major update is planned soon.
The various incarnations of Amiga officialdom, from Commodore to Amiga International, have toyed with many different processor options for the next generation of Amiga platforms. In the early days there were mention of HP-PAs and Alphas, but (consciously or not) the gaze of the decision makers must have been on the progress of Apple, which had made the jump from 680X0 technology to the PowerPC with ease. Well, relative ease considering the risk (no pun intended) taken in such a radical change of hardware. Looking at several comments from the Amiga developer's CD-ROM and various ex-Commodore engineers, the PowerPC running on a CHRP compliant system seemed the official destiny of the Amiga... until the tragic events of 1994.
The post-CBM era ushered in the drive of the visionaries occupying the third party development industry. Each saw ways of taking the Amiga to the next step in its evolution, whether a successor to Commodore-Amiga existed in the future or not. There are two main paths of PowerPC Amiga evolution - one following the CHRP proposal offering an Amiga OS for use on any of the standardised PowerPC platforms, the other following the idea of a proprietary Amiga using a PowerPC processor.
Well, the new Amiga's primary direction is set to be, initially, Amigas based upon a currently unknown chip variously designed "Superchip", "Mystery Chip" or "MMC". Where does this leave the PowerPC? Well, it may not now be the primary route for the Amiga, but it does have an important future - after all, current Amigas are successfully adopting PowerPC technology in accelerator boards. Even if Amiga Inc. don't support the PowerPC directly, all the companies pushing G3/G4 technology aren't going to let the market fall. In fact, Amiga Inc.'s recent decisions have reinforced the PowerPC situation, with Phase 5 and Haage & Partner joining forces, plus several hardware companies entering the arena - ESCENA, Titan Computers, and veteran CHRP Amiga developers Met@Box (PIOS). OS 5 is likely to be ported to other systems in the future anyway, and with the recent surge of PowerPC activity, something is most definitely up on the PowerPC front.
As for the PowerPC chips, there were doubts about its future after Apple's, in my opinion, suicidal break from the CHRP market. Nonsense! The PowerPC has a major future, far beyond Apple's horizon. Okay, so they do have a significant share of the PowerPC market, but they aren't the only consumer of PowerPC technology. In fact, the PowerPC is due to receive its own form of 'MMX', though this won't be a nasty, poorly-executed hack on top of dated hardware. Nope, AltiVec will provide extremely high-performance functionality with seamless integration. The G4 AltiVec processor is going to far surpass anything Intel can hope to offer (look at what a poor evolution the PIII is).
AltiVec technology will begin in the high-end markets, and gradually work its way down the chain. Interestingly, the system will be aiming at far more than multimedia applications - including networking and telephony. Due to Motorola's embedded PowerPC path, the G4 isn't just competing with desktop competitors but also with areas like DSP technology... leading to some interesting extra support for areas the new digital convergence Amigas are hoping to embrace.
The main proponent of the standardised platform was PIOS. PIOS were established with the clear intent of producing a PowerAmiga using off-the-shelf components, in order to have a viable system available in the minimum amount of time, and at the minimum amount of cost. They have achieved their hardware aim already: the transAM has been unveiled, and prototypes have already been created.
At the end of August 1998, PIOS (for legal reasons) changed their name to MetaBox. For various reasons, their Linux set top box (the 'MetaBox') forms the core of their immediate developments. However, the transAM is still a strong possibility - and is strongly tipped to feature Amiga Inc's mysterious MMC. In fact, the transAM could well be one of the very first MMC Amiga systems to ship!
As well as AmigaOS 5.0, the transAM (as befits CHRP multi-OS support) would also include Linux and QNX (BeOS was also scheduled, but Be are effectively phasing out PPC support in favour of x86) as part of the OS bundle. The transAM features a modularised system, which allows a simple, flexible upgrade path. Single, dual and Quad PowerPC options are all set to be offered - with G4 Altivec being the main choice of CPU (although everything from 603e to G3 were originally likely, and could well form low-end solutions).
The transAM isn't likely to ship until about Autumn '99 (just in time to line up along with early NG Amiga technology) and specs are being revised to take into account developments in technology. I've removed the old specifications as they look very dated, and will supply new ones as soon as Met@Box unveil their latest work.
Note: The Met@Box site doesn't mention the transAM/PIOS One at the moment. Met@Box are keen not to promote technology that isn't yet available for public scrutiny, they're not vapourware vendors y'know!
On the other path, we had the A\BOX. In many ways, this closely followed the original Amiga: dedicated custom co-processors, proprietary architecture and a powerful CPU. Potentially, the 1990s PowerPC equivalent of the A1000. Unfortunately, because of its proprietary nature, it required significant development time. In fact, due to delays, the A\BOX was postponed prior to significant revisions - then quietly shelved. Phase 5 claimed to have made significant efforts to develop a PowerPC native version of AmigaOS, updating it with several items of UNIX functionality in the process, though developments in this area have never been made public.
On March 9th, Phase 5 announced it had licensed AmigaOS 3.1 for use in future technology, followed by the decision to introduce an interim pre\BOX multi-PowerPC Amiga compatible (see below) which appears to have followed a similar fate to the A\BOX.
Meanwhile, Phase 5 have made a useful contribution to the PowerPC Amiga through the PowerUP project - which offers dual 680X0/PowerPC accelerator boards. Through this, users and developers can start taking immediate advantage of PowerPC technology. The development community can begin to produce PowerAmiga software, while users gain the advantages of a new order of magnitude in processing power. In addition, a subset of the CAIPIRINHA chipset was to be offered in graphics cards for PowerUP systems, with similar benefits for users and developers - this eventually ended up as a non-CAIPIRINHA graphics card using the Permedia chipset.
Conclusion: An interesting, and exciting, proposal which got the idea of a 'PowerAmiga' off the ground.... but died a quiet death before ever being built.
Phase 5's pre\BOX was originally aimed at bridging the PowerUP and A\BOX architectures, while also offering a high-specification Amiga-compatible with multiple PowerPC chips. It's an interesting turnaround - and at least Phase 5 realised that multiple PowerPC CPUs are a far more important development than high-spec, single-CPU machines.
pre\BOX appears to have suffered a similar fate as the A\BOX - although not shelved, it has supposedly been put to one side and the technology adapted into prototypes for something else. One would presume this would form an Amiga Inc. approved PowerPC Amiga system in the future.
While you're waiting for a genuine PowerPC Amiga, you can always power up your existing Amiga with a choice of accelerators. Phase 5 originally held the monopoly on PowerPC cards, but now other developers are introducing their own systems:
Phase 5 market the Cyberstorm PPC (604e) and Blizzard PPC (603e) cards for the A4000 and A1200 respectively. These include a 68040 or 68060 CPU. The new Cyberstorm G3/G4 cards aim to take these to the next logical step with PowerPC-only systems using the latest two generations of processor.
ESCENA recently announced their multiple-G3 system dubbed "Brainstormer". The system is a Zorro-III card, and runs 680X0 code under Haage & Partner's emulation system. G3 processors are added as plug-in modules, clocked between 233 and 400 MHz, with 512KB or 1MB Backside Cache and up to 512MB SDRAM.
Access Innovations' Boxer 680X0 motherboard will have G3 expansion capability, and is even rumoured to eventually exist as a PowerPC-only system.
For A1200 owners, the forthcoming Viper PPC is similar to the ESCENA system in that it emulates 680X0 code via the H&P system. Viper PPC will come in 604e, G3 and even G4 flavours - and is aimed at the A1200 market. Two slots are provided for DIMMs (up to a combined 512 MB), plus a bus for a dual PCI connector card.
Met@Box have also unveiled their own PowerPC cards. Based upon their Macintosh JoeCards, the "AmiJOE" will combine the technology of both the JoeCard and the transAM/PIOS ONE. Featuring a 333 Mhz or 400 MHz PPC750 (G3) processor for Q3, 1999. Cost will vary between 599 Euros (A1200) and 899 Euros (Zorro).
Titan Computers round off the list with the TwisterPPC for A1200s featuring G3/G4 processors, dual PCI, and H&P 68k emulation - all with an optional graphics card based on the very tasty Riva TNT2 chipset.
Well, at present, this is all the information of use, with the MMC strongly suggested to be now unavailable to Amiga Inc., the PowerPC is looking increasingly likely to form the heart of at least the initial Next Generation Amiga systems. My money's on Met@Box and their transAM/ONE system - they're strongly supportive of the Amiga, they're mainly ex-Commodore engineers (like Dave Haynie) and they've hinted that the new Amiga Inc. situation favours OS 5.0 on systems like the PowerPC. Plus, it's known they're in regular contact with Amiga Inc.
I hope to update this page frequently, to reflect the current state of play with the PowerAmiga. Sadly, I have no access to a PowerPC accelerator board, so I have to rely upon searching through magazines like Amiga Format, browsing the web or receiving information from helpful Amigans. Any information would be gratefully received... as would a transAM, pre\BOX or ESCENA G3 board, purely for research purposes *wink* *wink* *grin* People involved with any related projects, or even those featured above, are welcome to contact me with any information they feel should be included... and could gain themselves some free publicity in return.
