xTOS Developer Meeting

Text: Thomas Raukamp and Matthias Jaap
English translation: Dan de Hulster

From 8-10 March a developers meeting took place in Dresden. The topic of discussion was the future of the Atari world, no less. Matthias Jaap and Thomas Raukamp attended the meeting to report the results.

The theme of the meeting was clear: it was about the planned ColdFire computer, xTOS. A short while before this meeting, the name AtlanTOS was announced on several news sites, though this name is only the project name. More important than this was the list of attending hardware and software developers: besides Norman Feske (No of Escape), others like Markus Fichtenberg, Oliver Kotschi, Frank Naumann, Fredi Aschwanden, Matthias Jaap and Richard Gordon Faika were also present. The main theme was the hardware of the ColdFire computer and its OS. This meeting had nothing to do with the TOSgroup, although it perhaps had some common interests.

Hardware
Besides the planned processor socket, which will make it possible to swap the initially used ColdFire for the CF4e model, other interfaces were finalized. Upon seeing the published schematics on the internet, many people must have been puzzled by the presence of USB 1.0 as well as USB 2.0. The reason for this is that the MCF 5407 only supports USB 1.0, but the MCF 5417 USB 2.0. On the board USB 2.0 is already anticipated. USB 2.0 is backwards compatible, meaning that USB 1.0 gear can be used without problems. USB 2.0 is considerably faster than 1.0 and should make USB interesting for video manipulation.

The mouse and keyboard will be connected to the xTOS via the usual PS/2 sockets. Even though some predict the quick disappearance of PS/2, this standard will continue to exist for a long time. Also, USB keyboards and mice are expensive and would require greater effort to adapt - the USB drivers have to be initialized before booting takes place, so that configuration can be done at low level. No consideration is given to LS-120 for the xTOS, because this format flopped some time ago. The same goes for ED and similarly exotic devices. Much discussion concerned whether a floppy disk drive would make any sense nowadays. But to ensure the ability to boot from disk in emergencies and to access older programs on disk it was decided to integrate a disk drive. The sound card will be, as announced before, the Déesse card. This card was demonstrated at the meeting and looked ready for production. It makes the xTOS computer a real Falcon successor, because it will be sold as standard with a DSP.

With regard to graphics, probably a modern ATI chip will be used. Most likely it will be the Radeon chip, which will also make the new "Atari" up to date in this respect. Probably the graphics hardware will be integrated on the board, which brings the advantage that developpers and demo coders can work on a standard system right from the start without confusion. The graphics driver will initially support the 2D functions of the chip, while 3D functions (for game development, for example) will be integrated later.

By integrating the ATI chip on the board the development of an AGP interface can be avoided. It is not currently clear whether AGP can interfaced to the ColdFire processor.

OS considerations
The software received a little less attention. Milan Computersysteme declared it was willing to put the TOS code that has been in continuous development, and was to be used in the Milan II, at the disposal of the xTOS project. The advantage of this is that any necessary adaptations will be considerably easier than in former projects, because in the first instance only the TOS kernel will have to be adapted. On that TOS kernel there will be a MiNT kernel for multi-tasking and on top of that any AES can run. Woller System already gave green light for an N.AES adaption, but the proposed concept is flexible enough to allow for the popular MagiC system to run as AES as well. Another possibility would be futher development of the Atari AES 4.x. This would set new standards.

During the meeting the idea of further developing TOS as a standard Atari OS got renewed energy. There were thoughts about a TOS 5 and a TOS 6 project. TOS 5 would primarily integrate existing system extensions in order to fix standards again after 10 years of proliferation. This would mean unofficial standards like BubbleGEM and OLGA would become integral components of TOS. In addition to this came the idea of an extended AES, driver software (graphics cards, USB...), a standard internet stack and for example a revolutionary new concept for the simplification of program and system configuration. Also, software for running and making videos, graphics and sound (for example Aniplayer could become standard) could be integrated. There was also some speculation about a new desktop, currently in development, which would unite the many excellent properties of jinnee and Thing and would bring new concepts.

If TOS 5 is a success, TOS 6 would be a next step which would make TOS a very modern OS. The best news is that TOS 5 and possibly TOS 6 would be intended to be available for all Atari systems from the TT upwards (68030).

Lengthy discussions took place over the issue of the backward compatibility of the new computer. In general, like on all clones, cleanly programmed applications should run. If a program gives clean GEM output and consequently runs on graphics cards, it should run on the ColdFire computer as well. Older programs and games cannot be taken into consideration because it cannot be the goal of a brand new system to keep old fashioned programs alive. But to make it possible to run some older programs and also some games, the xTOS computer will be equipped with an ST emulator, an "ST in the xTOS". This compromise should satisfy many users.

Some software projects were discussed. These are still top-secret but when it comes to the financing of new software, the Atari/TOS Software Foundation will be of great importance. Through this foundation users can pay for projects like, for example, a new modern web browser and receive a discount on newly created software. The start-up of this foundation's activities are expected during the next weeks.

Pricing
When it comes to setting a price the Atari user must be realistic: it is impossible to produce a new computer for less than EUR 1,000 because the number of computers expected to be built doesn't allow for cheaper production prices. The new computer is being produced for the relatively small Atari market, this also means there cannot be immediate competition with the PC market. The more computers are pre-ordered and sold, the more attractive the price will be, but wonders shouldn't be expected in this respect. Right now all the participating developers and assistants work unpaid, none of them will earn (within the foreseeable future) money on this project. Nevertheless it is neccesary to recoup the development and manufacturing costs. Considering this, the price of EUR 1,000 for the motherboard is very reasonable. Atari fans should also consider the fact that a some of them haven't bought new computers for years and that they will be able to continue running most of their software. In fact, they'll save money if they stick to an Atari system...

There will a survey to find whether a complete system (including CD-ROM, hard disks...) should be offered to users or if it's to be assembled by the dealers or users.

Conclusion
Of course the few developers whose presence is "a must" were absent but nevertheless progress was made during the meeting. It is common procedure that the majority of the decisions made during a developers meeting are kept secret, but it is a fact that the xTOS computer is going to be built and that a good team has been formed with Frontier Systems as the responsible company and with Fredi Aschwanden as hardware designer. The organisation of a developer meeting was, after a rather brief "secret meeting" at the Atari Park an important sign for the new computer and an event that should and will be repeated.

Useful links Atari ColdFire Prohect (ACP) http://acp.atari.org st-computer www.st-computer.net xTOS Systems www.xtos.de

MyAtari magazine - Feature #2, August 2002