AmigaOne Timeline (27th June 2001)
It's now several months since this timeline was last updated as most of
the day-to-day news items have been posted to the http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/amigaone
mailing list. However lots of things have happened since we launched the
AmigaOne project which have had an influence on the specification of the
final product and therefore the timetable leading up to delivery.
The main change has undoubtedly been the decision by Amiga to use the
current Amiga OS as the basis for a home server solution and as an alternative
(to Windows and Linux) hosting environment for the Amiga DE.
This has meant that when it is first launched the AmigaOne 1200 will
be a substantially improved product to what was originally envisaged. The
majority of the improvements come from Amiga's commitment to develop OS4.0
specifically to run on the AmigaOne-1200 at launch. This is far more than
the 'fixed' version of OS3.9 that was originally envisaged (pending the
development of the native PPC Amiga DE implementation that was originally
planned). The new OS4.0 will come with a high performance file system,
virtual memory, high performance PPC-native TCP/IP stack, 1GB main memory
support, UDMA IDE and SCSI and ethernet drivers and Picasso96 2D retargetable
drivers for VooDoo3 PCI/AGP and Matrox G450 PCI/AGP & G550 AGP only
graphics cards. Warp3D/Mesa 3D drivers will also be shipped with the first
release of OS4.0.
Sound card (with Paula emulation), USB (keyboard and mouse) drivers
will follow as downloadable updates - ie you wont have to wait until OS4.2
(which we don't expect to ship until mid 2002) for these facilities.
The whole AmigaOne-1200 project is suddenly much bigger and very much
better as a result. The small downside however is that during the several
weeks leading up to the OS4.x announcement (at St Louis at the beginning
of April) and more particularly since then, we and Amiga Inc have had to
redirect much of our efforts to carefully defining, planning and allocating
tasks and responsibilities to OS4.0 development and integration with the
A1-1200. The extra work involved has also, inevitably, meant that timeframes
have slipped. Although this has also meant that the end time for hardware
delivery has moved back actual progress has, so far, been ahead of plan
with the development currently looking like it will come in at less than
the estimate for elapsed engineering time. As reported earlier in the AmigaOne
FAQ's, beta testers will not now be needed for the hardware which is being
independantly tested/validated as development progresses.
As most people probably know, Continental Europe (where most of the
AmigaOne and OS4.0 development is being carried out) closes in August,
making it a bad time for beta testing and the associated feedback. As you'll
see below, application software/OS4.0 beta test boards are therefore now
scheduled for release at the beginning of September. Manufacture of production
AmigaOne1200 boards will now start in mid September, and be released for
distribution as soon as OS4.0 is signed off for release in early October.
Timeline summary:
| Item |
Date |
| Mk 2 PCB production and testing |
Complete |
| All major custom chip logic building block development and testing |
Complete |
| CPU module design |
Complete |
| Custom chip PCI development |
Complete |
| Custom chip memory and CPU controller integration |
June/July |
| Bootstrap, flashrom maintenance and basic drivers implementation |
July/August |
| OS4.0 build and 68K emulator porting/testing |
July/August |
| Application software beta tester systems shipped |
End August/Start September |
| AmigaOne 1200 boards into production |
Mid September |
| Application software & OS4.0 beta test sign off |
End September |
| AmigaOne-1200 boards and OS4.0 available to dealers |
1st week October |
|
