It’s been a year since I started blogging about news in the AROS world. My first experience with the system, several years ago, was not one of the most successful. Over time, however, I became more and more convinced of its capabilities. You can say that I went a long way - from a moderate skeptic to a person absolutely in love with this solution :) Today AROS is for me the best version of Amiga NG. Following its development and testing new features gives me great satisfaction. I heartily encourage you to give it a try yourself!
In November we got a new release of the 64-bit base version of the system (ABIv11 20241102-1). This new version brings many improvements to Wanderer and Zune, as well as more than 60 bug fixes that have been implemented since March 2023. The version currently available for download is the version designed to run on a Linux hosted environment. We can expect a version that runs on native hardware next year at the earliest.
A full list of changes can be found here:
https://axrt.org/release-notes?id=aros-abiv11-20241102-1
You can download the new version from:
https://github.com/deadwood2/AROS/releases/tag/ABIv11_20241102-1
https://axrt.org/downloads-aros-64bit
At the same time, a 64-bit version of the Odyssey web browser, version 2.1, has been released (it requires the latest system version to run). Compared to the recently released 32-bit version, the 64-bit version offers JavaScript acceleration via a JIT compiler for better performance, as well as the ability to use multiple CPU cores when running in AxRuntime.
If you want to try out Odyssey, we have prepared some tutorials:
Using Odyssey on AROS linux:
https://arosnews.github.io/OWB-aros-linux-hosted/
Using Odyssey on Windows:
https://arosnews.github.io/OWB-axrt-wsl2/
Using Odyssey on Linux:
https://arosnews.github.io/OWB-axrt-linux/
At the Aros World forum, Deadwood presented an updated development plan for AROS. As we learn, the focus will be on speeding up source synchronization of the 32-bit version (ABIv0) with the latest 64-bit version of the system (ABIv11). The further plan remains unchanged, so we can expect a 32-bit emulator for ABIv11 and AxRuntime (a prototype of which is already running!), followed by the release of a native 64-bit version of the system.
There has been an update to the GCC compiler used in AROS. Thanks to the hard work of @thatguywiththekids, the default compiler has been updated from GCC 6.5.0 to GCC 10.5.0 for both x86_64 and m68k!
Other news in the AROS Archives:
FastTracker2 Clone (v. 1.66)
(author: Olaf Sørensen, port by Farox & Deremon)
The legendary demoscene tracker, whose main innovation was the introduction of the XM (Extended Module) file format. Now, thanks to the efforts of Farox and Deremon, we also have its port on AROS.
FastTracker2 Clone
SilkRAW (v. 3.0)
(author: Domenico Lattanzi)
SilkRAW is a program that allows you to work with RAW files generated by DSLR cameras, acting as an interface to the dcRAW program written by Dave Coffin (Be sure to download dcRAW and place it in the SilkRAW program drawer).
Features:
- Export thumbnails, individual RAW files or groups
- 25 supported dcRAW options
- Batch processing of RAW files with saving in TIFF, PPM, JPG, PNG, ILBM formats
- Further processing beyond dcRAW
SilkRAW
Sacrificio Pagano (v. 3.0)
(author: Juan Carlos Herrán Martín)
A simple program for believers in magic. It allows you to configure your own altar on your computer screen to make it easier to indulge in magical practices.
In version 3.0 we have, first of all, an improved visual layer of the program.
Sacrificio Pagano
UHCTools (v. 1.8)
(authors: Patrik Axelsson, David Eriksson)
It is a collection of programs and scripts for Amiga computers and their derivatives to simplify daily use and make the Amiga more independent.