Commodore Amiga – Remember when computing was fun?

Originally published on LinkedIn on the 24th of April 2017

Every now and then I find myself virtualising one OS to utilise one particular software I don’t have available on the current host. In my spare time I like to play with Hollywood Multimedia Application Layer (http://www.hollywood-mal.com). This tool comes with the possibility of running on the latest Amiga Operative System and Hardware.

However, I normally use the Windows versions. I asked myself: “How it would look like to run this stuff on a real Amiga?”. So I tried. Surely many of you still remember the Commodore Amiga computers and I have recently found out that there are still a lot of heroes out there keeping the platform alive. I only wish there was more choice in terms of available hardware.

When first appeared, the Amiga platform was so innovative that some say their sales representatives couldn’t even explain what was capable of. Andy Warhol experimented with it and left us some works designed and delivered by using Amiga hardware and software. Sadly it wasn’t the first nor the last time a great technology would not pass the test of market. Nowadays Amiga is a survivor.

Are there enough good quality alternatives to make the Operative Systems environment as differentiated as possible? Surely not. We are seeing public institutions moving back from open source to proprietary software after experimenting for a while. I feel Apple decided to slow down a bit the Macintosh story and Linux is still there, together with many other Operative Systems, being an alternative for some but not for all. I wish Amiga would have been one valid alternative. It didn’t happen. But hey, you can still do something with it!

If you would like to try and maybe participating to the community, a good place to start is the video here above. It shows the three essential things you need to have in order to emulate the platform on your Windows PC (or Mac). Those technologies are not all mandatory but they make the whole process simpler. Additionally, they imply some fees (and no, none of them will go to me ^_^). Start from there and decide your next step: quick abandon the idea, give it a try, become a regular of the community.

It is all about having fun! Un abrazo