From: "Peter Trei" <trei@process.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 95 10:25:56 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: [NOISE] Re: BlackNet in "Hardware"
Message-ID: <9510251725.AA25057@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> I recollect that the Amiga had some gizmo--I think it was called
> "MagicSack" or something like that--that let it run Macintosh programs,
> sort of. It never really caught on, at least as an alternative to real
> Macs. And I think something similar was available for DOS. This was all
> several years back, before the Amiga faded out.
> 
> Amiga users and former Amiga users can probably tell us more.
> 
> --Tim May

The Amiga 2000 had two sets of slots - one for amiga-specific cards,
and one for PC cards. Some of these slots lined up, and you could 
slip in a 'Bridgeboard' which carried an Intel processor.  It could
access the PC slots, the amiga IO, and had it's own disk partitions. 
There were mechanisms for the two processors to exchange data as 
well.

I *think* there was a similar MAC product as well, or at least a board
which could carry MAC ROMs, and used the Amiga 68000 processor.

So the  answer is: yes, the Amiga could do that. It also had long
filenames, thousands of colors, true preemptive multitasking, stereo
sound, a DSP coprocessor,and many other neat features years before
they were available on other consumer systems, as well as display
quality and features still unavailable on any system even near its 
pricepoint.

But - Commodore's marketing department couldn't sell ice in the
Sahara.

I'll stop now, or I'll start mourning for TOPS-20 as well...


Peter Trei
Senior Software Engineer
Purveyor Development Team                                
Process Software Corporation
http://www.process.com
trei@process.com