@djrikki

Great idea for a thread... Gives a nice insight on what people are doing
on their Amigas. Maybe, eventually, a summary of responses can be put
together?

On my OS4 machines (A1-XE @ work & SAM @ home), I'm using:

1) Image Editing
ImageFX 4.5 - Largely stable save for a few areas (text) and a few DSI's
when on the debug kernel - update/port desperately wanted!

2) Animation Editing
Don't use anything. (Don't think there's a real choice here now, though
ImageFX + FFMpeg provide a bit of this functionality)

3) Presentation/Slideshow
Don't use any. (Hollywood looks like a great candidate here)

4) Word Processing
Final Writer 97 68k - The most graceful and responsive option.
Pagestream4 68k - The only native way to do anything complicated.
AbiWord on Cygnix - When I need (a slow way) to open a word doc.
CinnamonWriter - A fledgling OS4 app, might be ready for primetime sometime?

5) Spreadsheet
Gnumeric on Cygnix - Slow but powerful.
TurboCalc - Faster, native and borderline stable enough.
Ignition - Another fledgling OS4 app that might get there?

6) Desktop Publishing
Pagestream 68k - The only stable choice. I've got the FEW later native
versions and they been just disappointing crash basketcases. Another
case where I wish development would restart.
AmiGS & Ghostscript - lets me make PDF files my work Macs can't hack.

7) Audio Editing
Don't use any - Audio Evolution and others exist.

9) Audio Playback
TuneNet - For local and online music, nothing else is needed.

10) Internet applications
IBrowse - the most elegant, responsive browser STILL
OWB - only when IB can't cut it.
AmIRC 3.10 - native and without comparison.
Jabberwocky 1.9b1 - native IM client, when the Jabber servers are working.
SSH - Secure shell access in the console.
AmiFTP - native FTP client.
Timberwolf - an OS4 Firefox port, alpha version still.

11) development tools
Notepad - OS4's text editor
ARexx - fast, light and gets a lot of stuff done (thank god for ARexx messaging)
OS4 SDK - The OS4 C compiler and dev environment - I keep threatening to try C again.
CodeBench - Native OS4 development environment - the vehicle for trying C again.
Hollywood (I have an old version) - Native and active, but a pale shadow
of what CanDo (R.I.P.) used to do for app building.... Maybe someday?

12) 3D applications
Don't use any - Blender's out there now.

13) Games
Don't use any - Still waiting for some strategy games - What ever happened to FreeCiv?
UAE - Let's you play most old Amiga games.

14) Network applications
AmiVNC - let's me (slowly) use my Amiga from my laptop, wifi'd from the balcony.
WebLord - A 68k website compiler - GREAT!

15) database applications
Don't use any - MySQL is out there, MUIBase looks good (keep meaning to try it).

16) Spend MOST of your time doing on your Amiga? Select ONE answer only.

ONE ANSWER? On an Amiga? Impossible.

Weekdays: (C) Web surfing, EMail, Internet Radio, IRC.
Weekends: (A) Hacking ARexx (maybe C?) while doing (C) (above).

@amigadad

Ahh... one more benefit to surfing through websites:

When you find a station or stream you like, you can
download the .pls or .m3u file to your Amiga.

I keep these downloaded files in a directory and have
set up their icons to call TuneNet as the default
tool.

For my favorite stations, I dragged their .m3u/.pls
icons into AmiDock... One click and TuneNet is
streaming them.

For the rest, I dragged the "Online Radio Streams"
directory icon into AmiDock. So with another click,
I have my whole selection of online radio.

Have fun,

PJS

@amigadad

Chances are that whichever site TuneNet was getting the
station list from has changed something - formatting,
URL details, etc - and TuneNet's code will need to be
tweaked accordingly.

In the meantime, you guys might want to take this
opportunity to configure your IBrowse installs to
recognize the .mp3, .pls, .ogg and .pls MIME types.
See the TuneNet docs!

Once that's configured & working, you can surf through a
lot of sites and just click many of their "Listen Now"
links.

Good luck,

PJS

@corto

Congratulations on and Thanks for continuing development
work on OS4!

re: DOSbox... I'm wondering what OS you guys have been
running? Is it really just DOS or can this emulator run
any ancient versions of windoze, etc?

Edit: ah ha, I just noticed the link...
Quote:

So it's trully DOS and games only?

Thanks,

PJS

@TSK

Quote:

Can there ever be enough developers?



Seriously, I'd imagine they're always interested in seeing
more qualified people who want to put in the work. Of
course, this is for one of the devs to jump in and
describe.

That doesn't even touch on the development of apps that
are in demand.

PJS

Hi Joseph,

@JosDuchIt
Quote:
I've been using ARexx to control AmiFTP for a while with
good results... I extracted a bit of code and this seems
to work printing out a files list:

Are you trying to set an Environment Variable
called ".AFld.Ttl" to the count of files? Maybe
the problem you're having is just getting the
contents of your Arexx variables out?

Instead of:

You might try putting your whole command line into
into a variable and then using that:

Good luck,

PJS

@mrupp

Quote:

Hi,

I just happened to be searching around for something else and I stumbled on
this page:

http://www.lyndonhill.com/Projects/thaionamiga.html

I didn't try to figure it all out, but it does seem to get into a bunch of
stuff you were trying to do, had a bunch of link and guidance which might
get things rolling for yoiu... in Thai.

Good luck,

PJS

@fingus

Quote:

I checked and confirmed this one too... It's been
reported.

Thanks,

PJS

@mrupp

Hi,

I'm one of the betatesters and I just took a stroll through your
reports.. I could replicate a few and checked them against the
OS4 Bugs list...

Quote:

I replicated it and filed your report.

Quote:

Don't really know what to do with this. I run non-composited and
all the windows (of same size) seem to be the same for me.

Quote:

Sorry, I'm spoiled. I run the built-in language... All the ASCII
letters of US-English appear as expected. Maybe one of the other
testers can provide a more informed insight?

Quote:

Already filed.

Quote:

I wasn't able to track down exactly what should be happening here.
Maybe this opens an enhancement request for a better way of handling
images.

Quote:

Not really sure what to tell you here... I don't have an OS3.9
system running anywhere to compare.

Quote:

Yes, its ancient and in need of a total replacement.

Quote:

Don't know what to say, I'm running a pretty vanilla system. Anyone
else?

Quote:

Yes, it would be nicer... But at least Amiga have always had the
"Use" button paradigm. Imagine how you could be suffering on lesser platforms.

Quote:

It's been (briefly) shown last Fall and it continues to be worked
on. There are a lot of things to re-invent, fix and implement.
Keep watching for more OS4 updates.

Quote:

It's being worked on.

Quote:

Can't that be done by some keyboard equivalent? hmmmm....

On the other hand, it is something in total control of the apps
that call the requesters. You can even do it yourself with
"RequestChoice". Maybe this is something to harass App Devs
about?

Quote:

Like IconEdit. this is another area where a wholesale replacement
would be nice. AFAIK, the OS4 dev team is always open to new
developers. Wanna jump in?

Thanks,

PJS

@yoodoo2

I saw your posting on AW.net and I voted "yes" there.
Thanks for cross-posting here!

I'd also be glad to buy your book and would easily be
willing to pay twice that price - let's say up to $40
or more - if your goals are fully realized.

Yes, it would be important to aim at beginners
(experienced coders get by with autodocs ), to see
how to set up GCC and provide _a_ lot_ of example code.

Maybe you can ask Simon Archer for Appendix chapter on
using Codebench?

Finally, in today's world, I think it would be important
to have a chapter on TCP/IP coding - setting up sockets,
a simple server and client and transfering data.

THANKS!

PJS

@LiveForIt

Count me in for testing too.

So far, I haven't had much luck running the apps which
used to run (very well) on the old Shapeshifter.

Thanks & looking forward to your work,

PJS

Hi cygnusEd,

First, THANKS for you work on AmiCygnix! I installed the
latest version on my SAM and it all went flawlessly.

I tried the new GUI and it's a nice addition!

I've mainly been using Gnumeric and that's also been
going well.

But I mostly want to run AmiCygnix on the Workbench
using the P96 Window driver and I always get a pink
colored AmiCygnix window contents. This remains the
same whether I'm on a RGB16 or ARGB32 screen.

Any idea whether this a configuration issue, something
in the OS/P96 or in AmiCygnix?

Thanks,

PJS

@Antique

That first translucent boing ball is a pretty cool image,
I just wonder how it would replicate into embroidery.

And that was the "AMIGA" text I had on my old shirt.
As subtle as it was, it looked good.

I'm not even sure whether the text needs to be there...
There's something appealing to me about the whole
"If you don't know, don't worry about it" approach.



And just having the boing ball would at least avoid the
possible legal entanglements with McBill & rabal.

PJS

FWIW, I'd also be interested in one or two Amiga
embroidered "polo" shirts... depending on the design
& color.

I used to have a white one with the tilted-red-square
Amiga logo shirts, but it's long since worn away.

As for all the whining about "polo" shirts, at least
the collar lets you wear them in more professional
settings than T-shirts.

Put the collar up if you want folks to question your
...err ..."persuation".

Thanks,

PJS

@jaokim
Quote:
If you get a chance to put up even a "progress" snapshot
archive of your compile, that would be great... and highly
appreciated!

For my purposes, I'm under the impression I just need the
basic JVM is all I need to run WebLord.

Thanks,

PJS

Hi all,

I was recently looking for the latest Amiga Java too...
and I'm not looking for all the GUI stuff, just need
console use to run a friend's former Amiga app...

http://ringlord.com/products/weblord/amiga.html

...now ported to Java.

From what I saw, someone named Glenn Hisdal had an OS4
version of JAmiga up and running (screenshots on the
JAmiga site). But EMailing him didn't get anywhere.

Anyone else know who he is or how to reach him? Or
have their own working OS4 compile of JAmiga?

Thanks,

PJS

@bean

Thanks for jumping back into TuneNet!

I see TuneNet appears to open at least a few ARexx ports -
"TuneNet", "TuneNetR" and even "AmigaAMP"(!!).

Would it be possible if you could post some docs on
what commands TuneNet accepts (and where)?

I'd really like to put an ARexx script together to control
TuneNet from my multimedia keyboard and I'm hoping it
has the typical commands for play, track & volume
control.

THANKS again,

PJS

@Rigo

Hey Rigo,

Congrats and Thanks for the release!

Quote:

Wouldn't that make each/every program run from the Shell
consume half a meg of RAM - whether it needed it or not?

Thanks again,

PJS

Hi All,

I just wanted to add another voice in support of DVPlayer - if you have
OS4 run out and buy/register it right away!

Yes, we have MPlayer and FFmpeg for free, but DVPlayer provides all
the benefits of a native Amiga program with modern interface -
visible and interactive progress bar and volume control, ASL requesters.
multi-file support, etc. in a good looking, responsive package.

I don't mean to slight MPlayer and FFmpeg, they provide the very
important safety net that lets us play and convert all those video
and audio files and streams that DVPlayer doesn't... but they are
clearly still foreign programs with a few rough spots.

Second, I have found that DVPlayer is nearly bulletproof in operation.
Typically, more reliable than anything else on the Amiga and even
more reliable than the video player on OSX. While it may not play
everything, I have almost never seen it crash (unless provoked by
my own OS4 beta testing).

Lastly, registration supports the work of Cobra on this wonderful
program. Yes, I'd like to see him add support for missing formats
and streaming media and, obviously, development will come faster
with more registrations.

So to anyone that hasn't, please run out and register now!

Thanks,

PJS

@COBRA

Yes, absolutely... I figured it had to be something
along such lines... I'm trying to be patient... I
didn't say anything since 2.8!

And Yes, I can see how a bit of work will be required
to deal with obvious possibilities of long lists and
small screens, etc.

PJS