Just got back from the MicroMart Computer Fair at the NEC in Birmingham, where I finally got to play with OS4. (I've seen all the show reports, photos, and screenshots, but there's nothing like getting your hands on the damn thing. IT'S REAL!!! ).
I arrived just before the show opened, and was inside before too long. It was a bit smaller than I'd expected but there was plenty to see and bargains to be had (although not everything was cheaper there)
I knew Eyetech were going to be there and decided to look for their stand. I expected it to be tucked away in some corner, but actually it was actually a decent sized booth along the perimeter, and covered in Boing ball posters. I immediately spotted Fleecy Moss, Alan Redhouse, and Sven Harvey (Stellar Dreams) along with Robert from Total Amiga Magazine and a few others. I was one of the first punters to arrive and Mick Sutton showed me around his OS4 setup. I played with the preferences and a few classic 68k apps. Although the graphics system was still in 68k emulation (non-JIT installed) the system felt quite responsive, no worse than the Win98 box I'm typing at now. Mick said the OS4 (alpha) version on his machine was about a month old (with new updates being released daily he hadn't wanted to risk updating it before the show). The GUI really is a big improvement, and very configurable, and new features such as The Grim Reaper are very welcome (even if it is getting harder to make it appear!)
The MicroA1 is a really nice board. Alan Redhouse had a removed the guts of a Samsung DVD player and fitted a spare MicroA1 into it to show the possibilities of the tiny (Mini-ITX) board size.
Another (functioning) MicroA1 was running Linux, Mac On Linux with OSX, and a Windows emulator (?) with Media Player playing some tunes. I want one of these now but Alan said I'd have to wait until April!
Another A1, this time a XE (in a very funky case, that got alot of attention), was running Linux with UAE and some classic apps. And of course the two machines with OS4. I spent most of the day hanging around the stand and it was funny to hear the reactions from the PC crowd, but there was quite a lot of interest.
Only two weeks 'til the Bath show so I can get another fix. Maybe see some of you there.
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