Eric's Update
by Eric Schwartz, the AmiTech-Dayton Gazette, February 2004
One problem with a market as small as the Amiga (and related) market is there's not a steady stream of new things going on. That's not to say nothing is happening, but in a climate where almost everyone can check the internet for Amiga-related news on a daily, or hourly basis, every piece of news that isn't a blockbuster tends to get lost in the buzz of background noise. Hearing about an improved piece of hardware or a new Linux text editor being ported only carries an impact if that's something you've been specifically waiting for. Instead of news like "Commodore unveils new Amiga model", the news is more akin to "Commodore announces MSRP on Amiga 2500HD will drop $20." It's undeniably good news, but hardly something to get excited over (unless you were planning an A2500 purchase at the time). So what else can I do but tell you about my experiences with my Pegasos 2.:)
Currently, my Pegasos still falls under the category of "Techno Toy," far from its ultimate goal of "Primary System." Part of this is my own financial situation, which allowed me to get the system and much of the supporting hardware, but I do not yet have the rest of the hardware and software which will elevate the system's status. My other shortfall has been time. I got the Pegasos mere days before the start of 2004, and since then have been away from home, and away from the Pegasos more than a couple times for days at a stretch. Add to that the fact that when I need to get some real work done, or just day-to-day dealings, I turn to my workhorse A4000T, and the Pegasos doesn't get nearly the time and effort it deserves just yet. The third strike is that right now my poor Peggy's only access to the outside world is via its CD-ROM drive. To get software and files into the system, I need to burn a CDR or CDRW on the Amiga, and feed it to the Pegasos. There's nothing wrong with doing this, but it's not something that's done on a whim, or for a single small file. It's also a one-way street. Until I get a net connection, CD-burning software that recognizes the drive, or a working USB floppy drive (I did buy one that does not work, unknown where the incompatibility lies), nothing originating on the Pegasos is getting out. (Ethernet and/or USB for the Amigas around here would also be helpful)
The final hurdle is software, and I'm not just talking about updates to MorphOS, Amiga OS, or whatever. I'm pretty well-stocked for such things as Video and MP3 players, and I can play a mean game of Quake, MAME, or Birdie Shoot. I'm a little light on truly useful applications in graphics and more, as MorphOS is not exactly a heavyweight when it comes to running classic Amiga software... at least it hasn't proved to be so far. "Lite" applications in the Morph Superbundle, such as FX Paint and Image FX give a strong taste of what is possible with the right amount of horsepower. I did a little side-by side comparison running operations on ImageFX between the Pegasos and Amiga 4000 68060 (not a very direct comparison, as not the same version of ImageFX ran on both machines). To give a simple example, a full-image blur, which took the 68060 18 seconds to do, the Pegasos blazed though it in less than 2 seconds. I'm waiting semi-patiently for some of the software I use constantly to come out in a more Morph-friendly version, such as Personal Paint (said to be forthcoming), PageStream (also forthcoming), and Photogenics (FX Paint would make an excellent replacement for this if its brush handling was replaced with something more intelligent.) It's not a huge deal, as any system I've ever gotten had a period of "adolescence" where it's not quite up to its true useful potential, but I'm confident my Pegasos will be a force to be reckoned with, given the right amount of time, effort, and money.