Re: RFC : SOME IDEAS FOR THE APPLE II FPGA'ers

["Simon D. Williams" <bb065@chebucto.ns.ca>]

On Mon, 1 May 2006, Mark McDougall wrote:

> I'm sure there's a number of ways to optimise the 6502, and the Apple II 
> design for that matter, in order to maximise performance. But, as Simon 
> pointed out, you're going to inevitably run into problems with software (or 
> firmware!) that use timing loops.
> 
> And personally, I'd ask "what's the point?" I'm interested in running an 
> Apple in an FPGA so that I can play the original games and run the original 
> software as it was meant to be run - and perhaps interface some modern 
> peripherals, such as VGA monitor, PC keyboard and storage devices. I don't 
> need to run word processing or database software on a turbo-charged A2 - 
> I've got a PC for that.

That's pretty much my thinking too, though I can see a "superfast" mode
being useful. While a fast PC will handle all your day-to-day stuff you're
still pretty much stuck with the limitations of your available software.
The nice thing about the Apple II is that you can whip up little Applesoft
programs on the fly for more oddball tasks. In this regard, I can see a
50MHz portable A2 clone being a handy thing indeed.
-s 

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