MorphOS 3.0 Released: Refusing To Let the PPC Desktop OS Die Gracefully 214
An anonymous reader writes "Version 3.0 of MorphOS has been released. It's the independent PPC OS designed for outdated Apple systems like G4 PowerBooks (5,6; 5,7; 5,8; or 5,9) and eMacs (1.25 GHz/1.42 GHz) and PPC Mac Minis, and some G4 PowerMac models (depends on graphics hardware). It further runs on discontinued and niche Genesi desktop systems (Pegasos) and the stunted 128-megabyte-of-RAM tiny Efika. MorphOS is a nice-looking, low-resource, and nimble OS that can't match the capabilities of current Windows, Mac, and Linux. Its installation/live CD is free without caveat, and runs for 30 minutes at a time, as many times as you like. You may purchase MorphOS to remove the time limit. A particular weakness of MorphOS is its lack of support for wireless networking."
What is the market for this? (Score:5, Funny)
It seems to be aimed at Amiga enthusiasts/nostalgists who no longer have any actual Amiga hardware, but do happen to have some old PowerPC Mac hardware around, and want to run their old Amiga software on that rather than under UAE, and are willing to shell out a fair amount of cash to do so.
Seems likely to be a rather small market.
Re:They seem to use that word a lot. (Score:5, Funny)
free without caveat, and runs for 30 minutes at a time
Either "free without caveat" or "runs for 30 minutes at a time" does not mean what I think it means.
Let me translate that for you: its like windows but free
Re:Another weakness (Score:2, Funny)
Weirder still, its like 30 euro more on a Powerbook than a desktop, and yet without wireless networking, its far less useful on a Powerbook than on a desktop!
I'm a big Amiga fan, still run one for nostalgia gaming sake, but MorphOS is crap developed by arrogant krauts.
Re:Facepalm (Score:5, Funny)
Again one of those websites which are sprinkled with links having only the text "here" or "this page". Go there, see here, this, that, everywhere. You don't as quickly see where the links are pointing, and it kind of feels like pushing the reader around. Just for a comparison...
Website wording aside...
Why not just go here [ubuntu.com]?
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Another weakness (Score:5, Funny)
My wife has a G4 MacBook Pro (maybe a Powerbook?) that was the last PPC laptop Apple made. She won't throw the thing out. It's got 10.5.8 I believe.
She runs Octave and AUTO on it for wave simulations and other PDE shit I don't understand (she's a mathematician). Python and believe it or not, Fortran (I guess a lot of fluid dynamics types use Fortran still for some reason).
I keep wanting to buy her a new laptop, but she always says she paid more than $5000 for that thing and won't give it up until it dies. I practically could have bought her a i7 gaming laptop for the price of all the new batteries I bought for that thing. Put Linux on it and she's got a numerical math monster. Maybe I'll go buy her a brand new Macbook Pro and switch them and hope she doesn't notice.
I am SO sick of having to look for old versions of XCODE and other software for PPC.
I have to admit though, the thing was built like a tank. It just keeps working and working and after a few hours you can grill a bratwurst on the keyboard, it gets so hot. It looks almost exactly like the new 17" Macbook Pro.
So my question: is this grounds for divorce? (just kidding hon'). I don't even think she likes OSX all that much. It's just because the thing was so expensive and it has worked and worked. How do I convince her to give it up without actually smashing it to bits?
Wait, I know. I'll tell her that new machines will let her watch Netflix.
Re:Another weakness (Score:3, Funny)
Free crap is still crap.
It's about the same as I'm getting from my latest Ubuntu installation. :(
Re:Another weakness (Score:4, Funny)
Yup, that Free copy of Windows 7 on my last laptop was quite crap. Fixed it with a BSD install.
Re:Another weakness (Score:4, Funny)
This may sound crazy in the 21st century, but we long ago agree to discuss any >$1000 purchase. She's always saying, "Why should I spend the money if my Mac works still"? (in her Eastern European accent).
We do have a special anniversary present exception to the "spending over $1000" rule, so maybe I'll get her the big Macbook Pro then.
Marriage, man. As the philosopher said, it's one long negotiation.
Re:Another weakness (Score:5, Funny)