... Moved the thread to the Amiga discussion ...

>>> Deron: After I get Windows/MorphOS/Linux updated to 5.1, I'm not sure where I am going after that.

>> What about an updated AmigaOS 4 version?
>> Did you abandon that system completely?
>> ??Why a morphos version and no OS4 one? Are there any reasons?
>>
>> I still would like to see this finally.
>>
>> Regards...
>> Michael

> Not abandoned, just currently not feasible and if I can't get functioning versions
> of MorphOS out the door I have no business trying to get an OS4 (or OS3 or AROS)
> version out. I have no functioning installation of these Amiga variants right now.
> I'm sure it is a possibility and I will certainly be looking into it, but
> I'm not willing to commit at this time. Fair enough?

I've had some time to think about this. First, I'm not getting a lot of feedback that anyone cares besides you. However, if I can get some kind of cross compiler
setup and someone will test and assist I will still try and release for at least OS4.

I'm not ruling out OS3 or AROS but there will have to be more interest than zero OS3 I'm concerned about because right now PageStream5 requires true color screen and is slow enough on MorphOS. An old 68k machine is going to be painful to use which is why I mention AROS. I have to admit I am woefully out of touch with latest Amiga development, so educate me.

Deron

PageStream Forums wrote on 23.07.2022
about <PageStream5.1 for Amiga OS3/OS4/AROS/??> the following:

> ... Moved the thread to the Amiga discussion ...

thanks. i tried but that was no successful.

>>>> Deron: After I get Windows/MorphOS/Linux updated to 5.1, I'm not
>>>> sure where I am going after that.
>> What about an updated AmigaOS 4 version?>> Did you abandon that system
>>> completely?>> ??Why a morphos version and no OS4 one? Are there any
>> reasons?>>>> I still would like to see this finally.>>>> Regards...>>
>> Michael
> Not abandoned, just currently not feasible and if I can't get
>> functioning versions> of MorphOS out the door I have no business
> trying to get an OS4 (or OS3 or AROS)> version out. I have no
> functioning installation of these Amiga variants right now.> I'm sure
> it is a possibility and I will certainly be looking into it, but> I'm
> not willing to commit at this time. Fair enough?

sure. as x5000 owner and os4 betatester i am interested in an os4 version, though.

> I've had some time to think about this. First, I'm not getting a lot of
> feedback that anyone cares besides you.

well, that may be because:
1. the last available os4 beta version is *stone* old. it is from 2005 actually.
2. there was absolutely *no* sign of live which made one believe in an updated version for the last 15 years. i for myself asked severyl times about any news, updates, new versions. but never got a (positive) answer. the fora went silent and all.
3. only recently there was some progress mentioned.

i think it is not that the users don't want to see a new version. they just have no reason to believe that there will be any news or updates. just because that all was so silent during the last decade.
and - yes - also about amigaos4 there was not so much positive to say. but it is *still* in development. betas are coming regularly.

> However, if I can get some kind
> of cross compilersetup and someone will test and assist I will still
> try and release for at least OS4.

that would be great! of course it should be assured that the version are running on the latest (beta) version in the wild.

> I'm not ruling out OS3 or AROS but
> there will have to be more interest than zero OS3 I'm concerned about
> because right now PageStream5 requires true color screen and is slow
> enough on MorphOS. An old 68k machine is going to be painful to use
> which is why I mention AROS. I have to admit I am woefully out of touch
> with latest Amiga development, so educate me.

well, i think i am not the right person to educate here. i'm "just" a betatester like many others. for getting an up-to-date view and some support you should better contact some of the os4 developers.
AFAIK you used to be a betatester some some years ago?

if you really are interested in doing anything - maybe contacting trevor dickinson would be a good idea? he then can make contacts to whatever side is required (a-eon or hyperion/os4 devs).

i'll send you the email address privately.

thanks and regards...
michael

>> First, I'm not getting a lot of feedback that anyone cares besides you.

> well, that may be because:
> 1. the last available os4 beta version is *stone* old. it is from 2005 actually.
> 2. there was absolutely *no* sign of live which made one believe in an updated version for the last 15 years. i for myself asked severyl times about any news, updates, new versions. but never got a (positive) answer. the fora went silent and all.
> 3. only recently there was some progress mentioned

Absolutely, and I am not saying that no one else cares. However, I am also gauging on interest back then, which was not that high either. Can't say that I blame anyone. Amiga has had more downs than ups, PageStream has been "stone cold" as you say. I'll just do my thing and we shall see?

Thanks for the contact. I've dropped him a note and when I get past the next MorphOS release, I will also post around in some public forums on setting up a cross compiler if need be. I did find a couple people who wrote blogs about it in the past so I have a starting point if nothing else.

Found my Windows 64bit problem, fixed most of the previously reported issues. Steve Bowman just reported a couple new ones that may or may not get fixed before the next release. So progress, however slow it may be.

Deron
Deron

PageStream Forums wrote on 29.07.2022
about <Re: PageStream5.1 for Amiga OS3/OS4/AROS/??> the following:

> Absolutely, and I am not saying that no one else cares. However, I am
> also gauging on interest back then, which was not that high either.
> Can't say that I blame anyone. Amiga has had more downs than ups,
> PageStream has been "stone cold" as you say. I'll just do my thing and
> we shall see? Thanks for the contact. I've dropped him a note and when
> I get past the next MorphOS release, I will also post around in some
> public forums on setting up a cross compiler if need be. I did find a
> couple people who wrote blogs about it in the past so I have a starting
> point if nothing else. Found my Windows 64bit problem, fixed most of
> the previously reported issues. Steve Bowman just reported a couple new
> ones that may or may not get fixed before the next release. So
> progress, however slow it may be. DeronDeron

thanks for the feedback!
looking forward to whatever emerges from that.

regards...
michael

Hi Michael,

Just my '2 cents worth' regarding the Amiga version(s).

I paid for the Amiga PageStream v5.x.x.x version(s) release, both the OS4 and 68k I seem to remember, though it may have been the v4 of both of those, and just the version for the 68k v5, which I still own ... for what good it is (not).

I asked Deron, in several threads you can probably see on this forum, about progress of the Amiga versions, over the years since 2005, but had little success in the past in gaining his impetus, but then he was in South Dakota and in a different frame of mind (the wide open outdoors with his wife and animals) and why not.

However, that left those of us who had paid, and were still interested in seeing a return on our investment in PageStream v5 being realised. It may not be a lot of money to not see that return, but added up, for those who made that investment in expecting to see the program released in a stable useable state, it's been a long time of waiting, and frustration, and a sum of money that should either have been returned to those who paid for v5 for an Amiga version(s) or made good on and the program completed to its users general satisfaction/useability. That has been my stance for all these years we have not had a useable PageStream v5.

I have since 2012, mainly due to the lack of fairness and stubborness of Hyperion in my opinion, dropped my expectations of OS4 ever getting to a useable state on Classic Amiga PPC hardware, and even though I bought a Sam 440 EP flex with OS4 FE Update 2 I was unimpressed with what it was capable of and the very small development curve that had been achieved, sadly. That is, as well as the exhorbitant cost of the NG hardware for the little use gained from its purchase. Over those years, and prior to buying the Sam 440 EP flex, which I have since sold on, I migrated to the MorphOS platform where the Development Team hold an almost opposite approach to that of Hyperion, in that you can ask anything, and if they can they will implement a feature, almost on the fly. Currently, due to a bounty being completed, the OpenGL/TinyGL of MorphOS is getting an almost virtual re-write, and the OS itself gets updates often once or twice a year. It has seen development of a new web-browser (Wayfarer) and is due for a new version 4 in the near future I believe. MorphOS runs on old PPC Apple hardware that is cheap to acquire and offers a MorphOS (Amiga-MUI), Linux, or Mac OSX user environment. Even the X5000, and other OS4 NG hardware, has been included in MorphOS development, which I find extremely benevolent of the MorphOS DT. As I don't see the OS4 team offering any software for MorphOS in the main, and in fact most of it is kept in-house/specific to OS4 if anyone that has OS4 develops anything for OS4 then it stays OS4 only. Many of the MorphOS users that use Hollywood, as an example, also create the software for OS4, and 68k, but it very rarely gets reciprocated by OS4 users which is not good for the comparatively small Amiga NG realm.

Initially, and where all this PageStream/MorphOS development originated, is that I heard that at one of the MorphOS get-togethers one of its team had 'tweaked' a PageStream v5 release and got it functional, but it was never released via Deron. Anyway, as a result of that I got in contact with the MorphOS Development Team, and partially as a result of that, and me keep asking (pestering) Deron about progress for PageStream v5 and its future development, some (lots) of encouragement and support was offered to Deron to problem solve the issues that were troubling the MorphOS version of PageStream v5, which resulted in much of the progress to date, in the main. So, the MorphOS version has been earmarked by Deron to be the next release as I feel sure he feels he has been helped by the MorphOS DT, and pestered by me, long enough to warrant that version being 2nd in line, behind the Windows release (damn it!)

No-one from the OS4 Team has ever tried to get a v5 of PageStream up-and-running in a useable state to my knowledge?

Knowing what I know now, I don't think that the 68k version has a realistic future, due to the CPU demands, and GFX card requirements, well it's not likely to be possible for many to use it, and even though I owned used a Classic 68k/PPC Amiga for many years I have to face facts that 68k/PPC accelerator cards have had their day for such CPU intensive software, and the serious user base has drifted away from the platform, leaving the gamers in the retro wake of the Amiga era. Besides, most people own a PC and so the option to upgrade or migrate to that from a 68k version is a feasible option. I've been able to use PageStream v4 on my MorphOS system with built-in 24 bit USB/LAN printing and felt little impact compared to my 68k/PPC classic Amiga hardware, but missed out on the later features of v5 for much of that time. The development Team are doing what they can to assist Deron to get it functional on MorphOS, which is currently not the case on OS4, though I appreciate your concerns in that regard, and I hope an OS4 version does get realised eventually, which will then see 2 versions for Amiga systems be operational (MorphOS & OS4).

I don't think I have stated anything in this message that is contentious or likely to be contested legitimately by anyone, as these are the details as I remember and consider them to be true.

I feel Deron is working with more impetus on the MorphOS version than before, and I hope this brings us all the results that benefit all versions of PageStream v5.x.x.x.