Editorial

This CAM is a bit late because I wanted to write the editorial after having been to the MicroMart show in Birmingham (UK). Micromart itself is a system builders magazine (www.micromart.co.uk) run by a group of ex Amiga enthusiasts. Sven Harvey, the head of Stellar Dreams, an AmigaOne dealer in the UK writes a weekly Amiga column for it, and recently they voted the Amiga the best computer ever, in a tight run off with the ZX Spectrum.

Sven is now living his dream because Stellar Dreams has become his sole business activity. He is taking over the Amiga retail business from Eyetech, is I believe the sole AmigaOne distributor in the UK and intends to build his business to provide the best support for the Amiga community in the UK. It is an outrageously brave decision and I urge all in the UK to give him their full support.

[ Sven Harvey of UK AmigaOne reseller Stellar Dreams. He was a happy fellow ]

The reason for attending the show was because as all Amigans know, we are at the bottom of a hole as far as a market is concerned. Those who have stayed are the dedicated, having remained with the platform through the thich and the thin. Indeed, many at the Micromart show talked of how they had waited until dispair had set in and only then had they moved to Linux or Mac. These weren't people who'd abandoned the Amiga not after Commodore but much later, talking about PPC boards for their A1200, Amiga Active, Gateway and the like. For them it hadn't been a case of fleeing to greener pastures but rather them seeing no hope as yet another Amiga catastrophe had driven over the horizon.

Watching their faces and listening to their comments was an eye opener. It was as if they'd be dumped by a fantastic girlfriend, spent a few years getting over the loss and then opened the door one day to find her standing in front of them looking better than ever. They talked about their past experiences, they talked about the nightmare of their time since, when using other solutions, they'd always been missing something, whether it was Directory Opus, Photogenics or even just the Amiga's sensible directory structure or responsiveness

This was of course helped by our two newest AmigaOne owners and AmigaOS4.0 beta testers, Mick 'Sicky' Sutton and Carl 'Jurassic Camper' Moppett. Mick has had his system up and running for a few weeks now and Carl, taking delivery of his machine just last week and getting access to the AmigaOS4.0 beta on Saturday had it up and running on Sunday; both helped by and now becoming part of the growing global community of AmigaOS4.0 enhanced community members - big thanks to NeRP, Steven Solie, David Rey, Chris Morris and Stephane Guillard for their support and help.

[ Mick Sutton of Seal showing off AmigaOS4.0 on his gorgeously boxed AmigaOne ]

Carl's description of his anticipation, the jingle of excitement and then the running in and out of different devices and drawers was pure poetry, and something I am sure that will be repeated thousands of times over in the coming months. To paraphrase him 'I'd waitied five years for that moment, almost everyday questioning whether it was ever going to happen and then, simply, it was sitting before me, waiting to play'

[ Robert Williams, Editor of Total Amiga. He told Mick he'd "look after" his AmigaOne if he wanted to go on holiday this Christmas ]

The show itself was a big success and our presence there has confirmed our thoughts. As AmigaOnes and AmigaOS4.0 now appears all over the world with people able to see and touch it, the days of rumour, lies and innuendo are thankfully behind us. Sven was bowled over with people wanting information and trying to order - if he'd had a credit card machine he ould have sold at least ten systems there and then. This, from just a single presence at a small show in a single country (admittedly the home of the rugby union World Champions (Sorry, had to get that in there!!!)).

[ They came, they bought cheap PC stuff, they hung out with the Amiga crowd ]

Most who have stayed with the platform will hopefully continue their journey - not out of blind obedience to 'The Name' but because the combination of AmigaOne and AmigaOS4.0 delivers the experience that they are seeking; that is stage 1. Stage 2 is to go after those who were Amigans but have left, to whom the experience is vital and urgent and was a big part of their life. If Micromart is anything to go by, then there are plenty and, if anything, their experiences since leaving the Amiga platform will have strengthened their commitment to it.

[ They came, they bought cheap PC stuff, they hung out with the Amiga crowd ]

With just those two groups of people, the community will start to expand, new applications will appear and with the Amiga Generation 2 project, we can start to add the new services and features that the new hardware demands. This will set us up for the third stage - going into the mainstream. In the meantime, both Eyetech and Amiga are working hard with other large companies who see the combination of the AmigaOne product in its many form factors and AmigaOS4.0 as a potent solution for their embedded business. In the beginning, this will undepin the development of the product and allow us to get it ready for the mainstream open market.

Let's not get too excited. AmigaOS4.0 isn't released yet. We still have work to do. The AmigaOS4.0 development team continues to perform miracles. We are slowly growing the AmigaOS4.0 beta group. Please do not be disappointed if you cannot get onto this yet. We have to carefully balance input from that group with the resources available to provide that support whilst not affecting the forward development. It will not be long now before all AmigaOne owners can have access to a pre-release of AmigaOS4.0 and, although it will be unsupported, it will give them the chance to experience the future for themselves.

It continues. Public viewings in Spain, New York, Bath, North Carolina, British Columbia and more.

[ Carl Moppet proudly shows off AmigaOS4.0 on his new AmigaOne, along with his collector's item Commodore T-Shirt. Attempts to wash it are now banned under the European 'Listed T-Shirts' act ]

From all at Amiga to all our friends, and even to those who aren't, we hope you have a wonderful christmas and a happy new year. Drink responsibly, hug a few people and book early for Return of the King - it could be Aragorn, it could be AmigaOS4.0.