#amikit

[mingos-commodoreblog]

Amikit X now free for Windows/MacOS/Linux

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[amiganogames]

Launching Windows Apps from AmigaOS in WinUAE

A feature that I’ve found particularly useful in AmiKit XE is the Rabbit Hole.

In a nutshell, the Rabbit Hole allows you to launch apps on your Windows system while you are still in your Amiga environment.

Since everything in AmiKit is available for free (you’re paying for the configuration - and I think that’s a fir price for the work that’s gone into it), I wanted to look to see if I could get this to work on my 3.1.4 setup, also in WinUAE.

I started off by downloading and unpacking winlaunch.lha from AmiNet.

Following the instructions in the README, I copied the winlaunch file to SYS:C on the Amiga and winlaunch.alib to the winuae_dll folder in my WinUAE folder in Windows (this was in C:\Program Files (x86)\WinUAE).

I opened a command shell and typed winlaunch notepad but all I got back was an error telling me that the DLL couldn’t be loaded.

Hmmmmm......

A little bit of sniffing around the interwebs led me to this page which suggested that to get Winlaunch to work, you need to Allow native code in WinUAE.

This is in the Miscellaneous section of the WinUAE configuration so I went ahead and enabled it. Upon rebooting the Amiga, I tried the command again and it worked!

All I need now is to find out where I can get some nice icons and I’ll be able to use my Amiga system as a pretty little launcher for all my stuff, even when I have to use Windows (like, for things like writing this blog post), just like is possible in AmiKit;

[amiganogames]

Platforms and Getting (re)Started

I’d dabbled a lot in trying to get an Amiga emulator running on my PC but I wasn’t able to make head nor tail of where to get kickstarters, ROMs or workbench files. Not having a clue and wanting to do everything legally, I first turned to Cloanto and their Amiga Forever product.

Amiga Forever

The main benefit of going down this route, as I saw it then (and still do now), was that the Amiga Forever solution provides kickstarter ROMs and workbench confirgurations all set up and ready to go.

With this, I was able to back up configurations and play with them, to see how things were hanging together and to get the basics established in my mind.

The most functional system there is based on Amiga OS 3.x which I understand to be a mishmash of the latest Amiga technologies based on the classic system while avoiding political and legal issues with some license holders.

Wanting to try and get as ‘authentic’ yet functional as possible, I purchased AmigaOS 3.1.4 and installed that thanks to help from the 10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast. This means I didn’t really need to have purchased Amiga Forever, but I think this has all helped me understand how things work. Slowly building this up and backing up the disk file as I progress, this has become my main system for a while.

AmigaOS 4

Research led me to believe that AmigaOS 4 was a workable solution so I bought and installed this onto WinUAE. I’m still working on this as I currently find it to be rather inconsistent, sometimes working well and sometimes inexplicably crashing. I am still tweaking this from time to time, but it’s not a priority.

I’ve used two methods of installing this, manually and via Flowerpot. As I understand it, there are extra dimensions to emulating this since it is designed for the PowerPC platform.

AmiKit

Now AmiKit is a fascinating solution! This is classic Amiga but jazzed up to the gills with fancy themes, preconfigured applications, multimedia capabilities, simplified and automated installation and it will even launch Windows Apps from its own interface (passing commands up through WinUAE)!

This is a fantastic configuration and it could easily become a daily driver for someone looking for something that looks modern but has Amiga at its core (though I am finding some minor issues with it).

Being the stick-in-the-mud that I am, I still want to use my ‘vanilla’ 3.1.4 platform and transferring files from the AmiKit setup 'disk’ meant that I was able to take advantage of the AmiKit config.

The Way Forward For Now

So, for now, my ‘main’ (virtual) machine is AmigaOS 3.1.4 running on an emulated Amiga 4000, but I have built this by installing AmigaOS 3.1.4 from the original floppy disk files built up that configuration as I go along - as I continue to do.

A Note on Solutions

I’ve read online an emphasis that purchased solutions such as AmiKit, Amiga Forever and Flowerpot offer nothing ’new’ that you cannot obtaini through other means for free. From my experience, this is indeed true. What you’re paying for with these is the time and expertise of people who know how to set up an Amiga installation. i see no shame in using these, as long as you’re not trying to earn yourself a reputation as a hard core Amiga nerd 😇.

[zecafeine]

Confinement et nostalgie 🤓🤓 Le workbench de l’espace : cherchez Amikit sur Geekzone. #amiga #C64 #emulation #winuae #amikit https://www.instagram.com/p/B--T-G6Bzw8/?igshid=yclykwbwy3ly

[moomoonmyid]

AmiKit 8 with MUI 4 released

AmiKit 8 with MUI 4 released

AmiKit 8 with MUI 4 released

Great news for AmigaOS 3.x users. The previous version of MUI is 17 years old. AmiKit 8 has been released, with MUI 4.

It brings the same experience as AmigaOS4 users have been enjoying for some time. Actually, MUI 4 for AmigaOS4 and MUI 4 for AmigaOS3 are built from the same source code, so any similarities between the two builds are 100% intended!

And for Free…

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[svenof9]

Amiga Mart in Micro Mart 1315

Amiga Mart in Micro Mart 1315

The new issue of Micro Mart, numbered 1315 was released on Thursday (12th June), featuring the Amiga Mart page, in the specialists section of the magazine. This issue’s article is about emulation.

Micro Mart is available from newsagents and larger Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco supermarkets, but be quick as the magazine is weekly so the current issue is only on sale till next Wednesday 18th June.)

T…

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