Where does this leave current .Amiga owners? At the moment Viscorp are keen to point out that there is definitely a future for the computer. Amiga development is to continue alongside the set-top box project. Work will continue on the operating system, on peripherals and on custom hardware and an update to the OS will be available later this year. Best of all, there will be a new Amiga computer. Looking further ahead, the development of the new OS will help shape the evolution of the most important part of the .Amiga - the CPU it runs on. The long-term future of the .Amiga computer is still up in the air, which was one reason for the meeting in the first place. Although the PowerPC is the natural choice, it is far from the only option. Several Viscorp people mentioned the DEC .Alpha chip, which is already available in versions running at 300MHz. The news that Phase 5 had announced work on their own PowerPC version of the Amiga was taken with a shrug from Bill: “If anyone wants to license the operating system, we will happily meet with them to sort something out.” The mention of the Dec Alpha could be significant. .As reported in AF previously, Macro Systems are already working on an .Alpha AXP card for the Amiga. The new “openness” at Viscorp could allow them to go one step further and develop full Amiga-clones based on the Alpha. VISCORP SUPPORT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION The new "open government" policy of Viscorp is an amazing transformation from earlier days. Bill Buck was keen to reiterate that the past is the past, and whilst there were many mistakes made by previous owners, Viscorp represent a new beginning. One of the first practical demonstrations of this policy is the decision to make all the Amiga technical documentation available on the Viscorp World Wide Web site. The intention is that this will be kept updated. Previously, official documentation was released through books published by Addison-Wessley. Although a reasonable enough arrangement, it did lead to some problems for developers, as often the volumes weren't published for months after new hardware or operating systems were actually in use. Very little documentation for AGA machines ever appeared at all. The new system should mean the provision of up to date information for developers and users worldwide, with the minimum of fuss and expense. 'Another flash bit of kit with no future?1 What does Dave Taylor think? GLIDEPOINT PAGE 67 EAGLES LANDING Blittersoft are distributing a new range of tower-based Amigas called the Eagle 4000T.