Amiga computer technology

The first models are based on an architecture that uses the Motorola 68030 CPU, which allowed the Atari ST to its principal competitor in the home computer market. The processor came in time to be replaced by faster models. The original Amiga computers were originally designed in view of being able to perform well and was therefore a series of graphics specialkretsar built-in. Extrakretsarna named Agnus, Paula and Denise. With the help of these circles can a lot of graphics and audio management operated without the computer’s processor was charged. See Amiga memory map.

Amiga chipset

One of the strengths of the Amiga computers is the special chip built into them. There are three generations of dedicated circuits used in Amiga computers.
Original Amiga Chipset the Amiga 1000, Amiga 500, Amiga 2000.
Enhanced Chip Set (1990) Amiga 3000, Amiga 500 +, Amiga 600.
Advanced Graphics Architecture (1992) CD32, Amiga 1200, Amiga 4000.
Advanced Amiga Architecture was never used in the commercial context as a result of the firm went bankrupt shortly before development is complete.

Amiga operating system – AmigaOS

Another of Amiga computers ‘ strengths is the operating system that Commodore had to develop for use to this series computers. AmigaOS is based on the use of a microkernel and can run multiple applications at the same time independent.

History of the Amiga computer

Amiga started in 1982 as a brainchild of Jay Miner and Larry Kaplan, who with the help of money from a few dentists started the company Hi-Toro (later renamed to Amiga Corporation). The company got some products and a prototype of a computer called Lorraine before it was bought by Commodore in 1984.
1985 launched the Commodore Amiga 1000 and it was then the first personal computer with multitasking and windowing in color (AmigaOS). Amiga 1000 was based on the Motorola 68030 CPU, like the Amiga 2000, Amiga 500, Amiga 600, CDTV.
1987 saw the launch of Amiga 2000.
in 1987 came the Amiga 500 (A500), where the computer was integrated with use. The Amiga 500 was called in the vernacular in the early days of ”Super 128: an”.
in 1990 came the CDTV was an Amiga with cd reader in much the same style as the Philips CD-i. Sales of the Commodore CDTV went bad and started having problems.
in 1991 came the Amiga 500 plus (A500 +), an A500 with 1 Mb of RAM and AmigaOS 1.2 (also in the ROM chip). The model sold poorly due to problems with backward compatibility with older games/software. A500 + disappeared after just under a year. In Sweden, there was for a while at the same time, A500, A500 and A600 + available for sale. Even the Amiga 3000, was launched this year. This was a desktop computer based on the Motorola 68030 CPU (16 MHz or 25 MHz) and SCSI hard drive. It was more expensive than the previous models (30 000 to 35 000 SEK) and was designed for professional users.
in 1992 came the Amiga 600 (based on Motorola 68000) and Amiga 4000 (based on either Motorola 68030 or 68040 Motorola). In december 1992, Amiga 1200 (based on the Motorola 68020) which became a bestseller.
in 1993, Commodore out with his other Amiga CD-ROM called the CD32. Basically, it was a console based on the Amiga 1200, Commodore managed to come out with the first 32-bit game console. The sale went well but suffered from lack of titles. At the same time, the company sold out its stock of Amiga computers at lower prices.
1994 Commodore went bankrupt and, finally, the rights to the Amiga moved between different companies (including Gateway) until they finally became a private company called Amiga Amiga, Inc. 1200 and Amiga 4000T produced until 1996; These models are recognized, they are tagged with Amiga Technologies instead of Commodore.
2001 cartoon Amiga Incorporated agreements with German Hyperion that the party would later take over development of the AmigaOS operating system. The company now is working at its best with the launch of AmigaOS 4.0 for PowerPC processors. The new version is described by the developer as ”the largest and most comprehensive update of AmigaOS ever.
2002, Eyetech launched the Amiga one motherboard. However, it was not yet finished, AmigaOS 4 software so it was shipped with various Linux distributions.
2004 Amiga one motherboard comes with a development version of AmigaOS 4 (AmigaOS 3.9).
2005 ended sales of Eyetech Amiga one motherboard.
2006 Hyperion released AmigaOS 4.0. There was, however, no hardware to buy that supports the new operating system.
2007 Amiga Inc. sued Hyperion over the rights to the AmigaOS 4.0.
2008 Acube announced that together with Hyperion released AmigaOS 4.1 for hardware Sam440. SAM440 will be the first hardware that support AmigaOS 4.x then Amiga one/Micro-A1 was sold in 2005.
2009 Hyperion announced that they had, through an agreement with Amiga, Inc., acquired all rights to the AmigaOS. Rights apply to OS 3.1, 4.0, 4.1 and 5.0 the future. The agreement says that Hyperion has the right to use, modify, develop and use the operating system for commercial use. Note that the agreement applies to the AmigaOS. The brand name ”Amiga” still belongs to Amiga Inc.
at the end of the year 2010 announced the fledgling company A-EON that it intends to build an AmigaOS compatible hardware named Amiga one x1000. Amiga one x1000 shall have the PA6T processor and also a ”custom” xmos chip,

Amiga models

Amiga 1000 (1985)
Amiga 2000 (1987)
The Amiga 500 (1987)
CDTV (1990)
Amiga 1500
Amiga 2500
Amiga 500 + (1991/1992)
Amiga 3000
Amiga 3000T °
Amiga 600
Amiga 4000
Amiga 1200
Amiga 4000T °
Amiga CD32