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Amiga boss hints at Java-style technology

AmigaObjects to deliver original Java goal: convergence

Amiga, Inc. appears to be trying to out-Java Java with its upcoming Amiga Operating Environment (AOE), its new operating system based on the QNX OS. According to company president Jim Collas, AOE will feature what Amiga is calling AmigaObjects, a "powerful software structure that enables easy integration of technology, distributed computing, high-speed network transactions and communication between applications. "They are also powerful software building blocks that will allow people to build impressive applications quickly. AmigaObjects are portable and transferable across platforms allowing AmigaObjects to proliferate throughout the network, the Internet and the world." It's an intriguing idea, one that Collas believes will allow Amiga to "build a revolutionary computer platform". The only snag is that it sounds rather like what Sun has been doing for some time and continues to do with Java, specifically with JavaBeans and its Jini networking technology, and we all know how long it has taken Sun to develop all this stuff and get users to implement it. The advantage that Amiga has, however, it that by coming from the OS side of the equation, it's in a better position to implement these features within the framework an OS provides. Sun has always had to do it the other way round -- in other words, get its technology integrated into other people's operating systems. Still, if Amiga technology is to "proliferate", the company is going to have to tackle its availability on other operating systems -- or seriously engage in porting AOE to non-Amiga hardware platforms -- and that's no easy task for a company of Amiga' size, even if its upcoming Multimedia Convergence Computer -- Amiga's version of the iMac -- sells well. Collas has promised more extensive details of AmigaObjects and AOE next week -- watch this space for full details. He also said he will soon be announcing Amiga's new CPU of choice in a few weeks' time. It's not an x86 chip, he admitted, but would say no more. Our money's on the PowerPC G4 -- or the PowerPC 7400, as it's officially known -- and Amiga's announcement would tie in nicely with the big launch Motorola has been promising the new chip will soon get. ®

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