My apologies for this competitions late start but hey always better late than never eh

For the remainder of Feb and March 2026 we'll be playing Bubbelsche Deluxe by EntwicklerX. It's a very simple game to play where you have to navigate a small bubble through a long, complicated maze without colliding on the game blocks. Manage the bubble as fast and wide as possible without bursting. You have exactly one attempt per game to make it.

You can purchase the game on your OS4.1 machine on AMIStore or Alinea Computer or it's also available at itch.io's site.

The goal is to reach the highest score possible. Please post a screenshot of your high score table below to participate (also note the computer you're playing on). The leader board will be updated regularly.

Please NO CHEATS. Have fun & good luck everyone!

Standings:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

I thank all the participants in this discussion. As a user who is not fully aware of what goes on under the hood, I appreciate that there could be ways to make the system better. I just don't want to loose the ability to run system friendly 68K programs.

I disabled Kickstart/petunia.library.kmod in my Kicklayout in June 2020 and I have been running my OS4 system without petunia ever since then (5 years and 8 months).

;MODULE Kickstart/petunia.library.kmod

Even with petunia disabled, some magic in OS4 allows me to run the following 68K software:

BackUp software by Daniel Westerberg (onyxsoft)
Final Writer 97
TVPaint
PPaint
Cinema4D-Demo
ARexx
RxMUI
rexxbgui.library
rexxtricks.library
MicroRexx
AWNPipe
SimpleMail
YAM
Newscoaster
AmigaWriterDemo
PostIt (note program)

There are some others but these are the most obvious ones.

I use ARexx and RxMUI daily in my scripts and ARexx programs.

BTW, AmigaOS 4.1 FE Update 3 is very stable on my MicroA1.

---
redfox

@DigitalDesigns

Quote:


Sweet! Already downloading.

Hi everyone!

Infinite Icons 1.4 is now released!

This is a free update for anyone who has bought version 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3

- New icons is created 313

- AmigaOS3.2 icons has received an installer and icon switcher
coded by Michael Becker.

This is revolutionary feature for OS3.2 users, working also ApolloOS.

- There is also something new besides icons.

Version 1.4 includes a total of 14 mouse cursors, one for each
color and with two different versions.

Mouse pointer install is not automatic you have todo it manually.

- Several bug fixes to existing icons, see more in the readme file.

This is a good way to start the new year 😊

The product can be found here if you haven't already purchased it:

https://www.amikit.amiga.sk/infiniteicons

I 100% agree with Kas1e here. If OS4 doesn't do something then it's a dead duck that's just never going to progress. And since I do understand the sandboxing concept, even if not in detail, I'm all for it.

I've just sold my OS4 system. And I won't lie, one reason, but by no means all is that OS4 is just flaky as hell.

I'm not a long term user. I only had A1200 briefly back in the 90's when they came out and have only been into OS4 for about 12 years now, so I don't necessarily know all the gory details of what I should and should not do and trust me when I say, it's extremely easy for me to crash the system. Especially when I start to mess about with programming.

I'll be back to OS4 at some point, I'm sure, especially if I start to see movement in releases and improvements so anything that can move things forward is a plus in my eyes.

Soliton card game has been bug fixed and will be included in the next AmiBench update for the A600GS and the A1200 NG

@FlynnTheAvatar

Where did you download the QT examples from? I'd like to play around with them too

@LiveForIt

Yes it is

But how is it related to the discussion if it makes sense to drop compatiblity to 68k meaning 68k software would no longer work outside emulation

@OlafS25

a mix of different things.. System54 as AmigaKit calls it.

but the point is it depends on ARM based libraries
and acceleration from the host OS.

@LiveForIt

Amibench is as I understand it a Aros 68k distribution, similar to apolloos or my distribution, running in full emulation. The problem is not how fast it is but how good it integrates and how the feeling for the users is. Is it still feeling very much the same or not? Feelings are very important to retro users who we all are today in one way or the other.

@OlafS25

Quote:

it can be quite fast... and feel quite normal, if you don't go for a full emulator. A600GS / A1200GS - AmiBench is moving in that direction.

After I wrote the message below, I realised everything has been said already.
I'll post it anyway.

I am using a lot of 68k software too.

WordWorth
TurboPrint
ArtEffect
AREXX
CubicIDE
PageStream4 (Since PGS5 is buggy at least)
To name a few.

What bothers me most is being stuck with a system where a single misbehaving program can bring the whole thing down. Then there's the nice hardware with multiple cores and being limited to just one.

The OS should move on.
Then developers would also be more interested in it when better development tools are available, and this too seem to be related to the OS being stuck too much in the past.

AmigaOS 3 is being developed further, so there is the alternative with Vampires and other "68k" hardware.

All other OSes have moved forward; we should too. To me, it seems silly to have two parallel OS 3.x and 4.x, with the only difference that one does run natively on hardware that can only be supported partially, at half the speed.

To have fairly modern browsers, especially since a few of us in the thread want one, we need to move forward. And we need a 64bit os for modern browsers. I don't think there is a way around it. we might be able to to get along for limited amount of time, but sooner or later nobody will be able to to take webkit and make it run on 32bit.

I vote for moving forward, but I wish a better and faster e-uae was available.
Judging from the explanations of kas1e, I think that is a good way forward. So count me in with kas1e and Andrea. and thanks to LiveForIt for cooking up some mystery better development tools.

@LiveForIt

Ditching 68k has advantages and disadvantages

To name a example where I come from... AROS

it is about being API compatible but not binary compatibility. That finally means integrating 68k only by emulator. The advantage you can basically make changes to the OS without caring about breaking compatibility with 68k. That makes it possible to do currently a migration from 32bit to 64bit. But this of course comes with a price. You can as example not use original 68k libraries in the system like those needed for arexx. I think this is possible in amigaos because of petunia. There is a replacement for it but it is not fully compatible. You also must run emulation to use 68k. That is creating a different feeling at many users obviously.

So short... if you want to move forward you have to ditch 68k compatibility and the way 68k is currently integrated in but it will also feel different if you still use 68k apps.

I do not know if 68k integration like it is currently done in amigaos has still the same meaning as it had in the past. I know that at least in past 68k integration was a reason why people preferred one system to the other.

@FlynnTheAvatar

Looks it runs really good, looks like load pages pretty fast too.

@FlynnTheAvatar

Now THAT is really satisfying... I like the mood, it makes me feel so - saturated! It also gives me the impression, that this is something really, really valuable to look at, here in my nightgown getting ready to voluntarily shut down my circuitry until the day tomorrow, where I have to perform dastardly feats against an unbeknownst enemy. I have to say, that is extraordinary! I am just waiting for everyone else to join in and have a caballesque (whatever that is).

@elfpipe

I added one the free Youtube songs to the video. I hope this fits the moot

Was about to record same kind of video (alfkil gives me test bins as well), but as Flynn was faster, i only can add that yea, speed is ok. Not slideshow or whatever, pretty ok. Of course can be a bit improved here and here, and a bit more integration with visuals and os4 design can not hurt, but hey hey, that pretty good.

@FlynnTheAvatar

That's fabulous! Now - for the devil within me: Could we have some music on top of that?? Not the slightest of what I'm after, so anything will do, just any music at all! Can you do that for me!? Oh the joys of laughter, wo-ho-ho, beyond the wild canyon where the roses grow....!

...And perhaps also tell me: How do people normally upload images in posts here?? I had to let go of my homepage service, so I am left with cloud storage, that doesn't play so well with the [img] function here.

@elfpipe

Thanks a lot for your kind words. But I managed to capture a smoother version:

@FlynnTheAvatar

You did an absolutely amazing job. We can all see everything loud and clear! Nothing is hidden, everything is written - in vast codes of orbital noise, beridden with fearless joy and laughter... Ho-ho-ho! Do the moose dance and join the quest for glory -

IN THE TAQTUC Challenge 2026........(!!)