Re: Building the Modern Apple IIGS

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Declan MacLeod <declan_macleoid@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I tried several approaches to replying to this, but I'm finding it hard 
>to put into words why it doesn't 'feel' right.  I think it boils down to 
>the fact that in my mind the GS and Windows are diametrically opposed to 
>one another, and nothing you can do to Windows makes it "in the spirit 
>of the GS."  If you tuck your GS-cased PC out of sight, there's now way 
>to tell that you're not running a run-of-the-mill PC -- the user 
>experience will be the same.  I think user experience defines the 
>computer, not form factor, and it sounds like the user experience on 
>this will be 100% PC.
>
>I think that to retain the GS spirit the proposed box would _have_ to 
>run Linux.  The Apple II was born out of experiment and hobby and a love 
>of tinkering, exactly like Linux...  I think this to me would be the 
>"spirit" of the GS.

Very well put.  I think the reason we don't see this the same way
is because I am a hardware person.  Running the Microsoft OS
does not bother me.  To me, there is nothing diametrically opposed
about it.  Both are windowed GUI operating environments.  As a
PC user I am as familiar with Windows as I was with GS/OS as
a IIGS user.  So from the OS angle, both have become transparent
to me.

So what else is left?  The hardware.  The nForce2 hardware with
the AMD Athlon XP processor reminds me very much of the IIGS.
Watching the 3DMark demo reminds me very much of the FTA.
When I work on the hardware hands-on, it reminds me of working
on my IIGS when its hardware was new.  PC hardware and
even the processors, at least the AMD ones, are made to tinker
with.  Unlocking a CPU's multipliers with a pencil or conductive
ink to overclock.  Sound fun?  Reminds me of soldering the IIGS
accelerator boards to increase speed.  There are many other
examples I can think of.