My platform of choice is the Amiga, which may be inevitable as I seem to be set in my ways, having started programming on pre-chip `dinosaurs` (Univac 1108/Exec II, IBM 360/20, etc.).

It is not that I will ever refuse to try whatever is available, but I will use the OS most capable of performing exactly as I expect it, the OS that won't get in my way, or annoy me with excessive hype and a stiflingly formal office attitude. It is simply about making an individual and practical choice, backed by experience. My choice is definitely not an OS that is gleefully destroying my files, such as one particular diskcheck, which will vindictively remove a dozen or so, sometimes the odd folder, almost every time I boot into it.

I really do appreciate simplicity, efficiency, consistency and elegance, and most of all - fun! For example, when I change some settings in Genesis, while it is on-line, it comes up with this:

When I decide to stay online, it will save the settings to the drive and gives itself a tick to reload it at the next convenience - try that with WinXP`s network interface.

Then there is the ability to change the language of Workbench on the fly - and all programs will follow suit. AmigaOS can also be re-installed while it is running, while Win needs to reboot after only installing additional software. While the Amiga is getting swifter with every new release, the opposite is the case with Windows.

MacOS, which I have been running on emulators on the Amiga for a long time, is much more realistic and user-friendly, but as it cannot utilise this PC`s hardware, I had to go through several GNU/Linux distros, and now find myself booting more and more into Mepis. In the meantime I am trying to set up AROS as maybe a better solution to run my servers on this x86 box, sadly without much success yet. Maybe I need newer hardware; as it is, this BIOS limits me to a harddrive no larger than ~137gig. As I bought a 160gig drive before being aware of this limit, I am stuck with it - and Windows diskcheck, munching away at my files. On Amiga I can simply patch the filesystem to fix this, while this BIOS will never be upgraded, so I am forced to buy a new box. The perfect throw-away system, ideal for greedy corporate types, but sadly a reckless waste of resources.

While previously some folks choose to regard me as computer illiterate, now that I own a Windows box, those very same ppl will ask me about Word and other bits. Although I still use Wordworth for my own needs, I have looked at MS Word, AbiWord and lately Open Office, so I can easily tell them what they want to know, and they go away seemingly happier. There is hardly any difference between the various word processors, though MSWord seems to hide most of its functionality behind a forest of cryptic features I will never use. One reason why I prefer WordWorth, it is simple, quick with everything I need right at hand.

Without ever having seen, let alone used an Amiga, some try to tell me it is old hat, and completely ignore any explanation that its hardware is a newer and much more efficient design than IBM`s late seventies PC, with a few new peripherals attached. Bolting a new body shell onto the chassis of a Ford Model T won`t make it any more modern, although from the outside it may appear so, it will still handle like the old oxcart it is. Those wanna-be "experts" who try to patronise me, really deserve the mind-numbing system they`ve got.

And to run it, there are these:

Sadly the A4000 is out of commission, and so is the Blizzard in the A1200, so now things are serious until the Natami comes along. Meanwhile I am relying only on UAE.

My main machine is the Amiga 4000, the A1200 is for the odd scan and MIDI, while an A500 runs the old games or scene demos, my trips down memory lane. The clone is mainly just a 'badge' to show that I exist, and fills in for the tasks where the Classic Amiga has fallen behind. However, I am convinced that if it had only 10% of the funding/development that`s poured into Windows, it could easily jump light-years ahead of the entire pack - again... Amiga at NASA. A4000 (desktop) in PowerTower, OS3.9 + BB2. CSPPC '060 + 128MB (needs fixing, so now just '030 + 16MB + Oktagon), 9GB SCSI. CV64/3D + Samtron 55E monitor (shared with PC), MFC III, VLab Motion, Delfina Lite DSP @60MHz, Canon BJC2100 via parallel port. Runs emulators for MacOS v8.6 on 68k and v9.04 on PPC.

A1200, Blizzard'030/50 + 32MB, 120GB IDE, SCSI IV + 32x TEAC CDRW, OS3.5 + BB2, SCSI Agfa SnapScan, VidiAmigaRT, TriplePlayPlus MIDI i/f, C= 1940 monitor. 56k ext modem and PCMCIA net-card.

That was the fun part, now it gets serious!

AcerPower S57, intel Celeron @1GHz, 1GB RAM, GeForce 8500GT, 20GB + 160GB PATA, CD-RW + DVD-RW, 80GB + 160GB SATA on PCI controller and Canon BJC2100 via USB. On-line via 24Mbps DSL. WinXP/SP3 and Mepis GNU/Linux dual-boot. Main apps: WinUAE running a virtual copy of my A4000, Open Office and Mozilla FireFox & ThunderBird, though I do use Opera and Chrome as well.

"The U.S. is Microsoft. Al Qaeda is Linux."

John Robb`s new book - Brave New War

as quoted by Jamais Cascio on 14-May-2007