-Hello All.
    Welcome to the latest feature here at AmigaSource - Interviews. In an attempt to keep the masses informed and generate more site traffic ;-) I have conducted my first interview. I am very pleased to announce that Mr. Ben Hermans of Hyperion has graciously agreed be the first. 
   Please keep in mind that I'm neither a reporter or web designer. The questions are not indepth or really technical. Just the basics. With that said please enjoy and spread the word about AmigaSource!!

 
General
1-I know this is on your corporate page but how would you describe your company?
Hyperion Entertainment is a privately held Belgian-German company, founded in March of 1999.

The company specialises in 3D graphics and the conversion of top-quality entertainment software from Windows to niche-platforms including Amiga, Linux (x86,PPC) and MacOS (OS 9/X).

Hyperion Entertainment has undertaken contract-work in the field of 3D graphics and game porting for companies such as Monolith, MacPlay and Amiga and is currently working on mature, fast, small foot-print technology to bring 3D graphics to low power digital devices such as PDA’s and STB’s.

We recently were contracted by Mai Inc. to produce the AmigaOne's/Teron CX/PX firmware.

In November of 2001 we licensed the AmigaOS source-code to develop Amiga OS 4.0, a PPC native version of AmigaOS.

2-Do you personally use an Amiga? At home? Work?
Unfortunately not any more, the reason being that I keep having to send out hardware to 0S 4 and Hyperion developers whose hardware breaks down.

Their needs obviously take precedence.

I'm currently having a "new" A4000 based system rebuilt however and fingers crossed that I won't need to send out my Cyberstorm PPC again.

3-With the ever shrinking Amiga marketplace in the past few years why did you take up the challenge of OS 4.0?
We believe that the AmigaOS deserves to be preserved. I use Windows 98 daily at work and despite the fact that it runs on a very high-end Pentium III system, Windows irritates me to no end. Just try launching an application like Word or Netscape and watch your system become unresponsive and the mouse-pointer jump all over the place.

General Hyperion
4-Could you comment on your relationship with Amiga Inc?
We are working closely with Amiga Inc to coordinate efforts on Amiga OS 4.0 and DE development.

Amiga Inc moreover has some useful contacts as the name Amiga still opens many doors.

5-Would you continue developing the AmigaOS if Amiga Inc was to cease operations?
Absolutely. This is why we secured the right to continue developing and releasing AmigaOS even if Amiga went bankrupt or was bought out.

6-What is your official relationship with Amiga Inc concerning OS4.0? Are you a paid sub-contractor? One time developer?
We are license-holders of the AmigaOS source-code and have as such secured the right to develop AmigaOS further indefinitely.

7-What is official number of personnel working for Hyperion?
We certainly stand at 4 full-time developers and a varying number of external developers. Note however that we work together with around 30 outside contractors on OS 4 and other Hyperion projects.

8-What is the "best" official status you can give on OS 4.0?
90% of the OS modules are now completed and have been undergoing external testing since late September.

Testing revealed surprisingly little problems, most likely as a result of the fact that we had been doing extensive internal testing.

The remaining 10% will be finalised and tested with the next few weeks.

Exec SG already boots and runs on the AmigaOne.

The main work for OS 4 now centres on the 68K emulation integration and the rewrite of the chipset banging devices and OS modules for the AmigaOne.

9-Are you pleased with its current development schedule? (Translation - Is it still on time?)
More or less. One always hopes that things go faster ofcourse but once the 68K emulation integration is completed, we believe that the main hurdles are now behind us.

Development resources are being freed up as OS modules are completed which considerably speeds up development as time progresses.

10-What is the current status on the OS 4.1-OS 4.9? Are you still planning on developing it?
We have already concrete plans for OS 4.1 and in fact, some development is already going on in this direction.

As 0S 4.0 is basically OS 4.2 as announced on the Amiga website, the development roadmap will need to be reconsidered. There is still plenty of work to do before we are entirely happy with AmigaOS 4.x.

11-How many individuals do you have working on OS4.0? In house? Contracted out?
Around 30 external developers plus a varying number of inhouse developers (currently three).

12-What is the status on the "Classic" version of OS4.0 for the non AmigaOne users? (Cyberstorm systems?)
See above. This is the first version to be completed and won't necessitate any serious work on the chipset banging devices as the chipsets are there to begin with.

13-What is the status of the integration of the 68xxx emulator into the OS? (petunia)
Progressing well.

14-What has been your biggest problems/challenges in developing OS4.0?
Funding. Hyperion is a commercial company with full-time developers who need to get paid. We did not receive any upfront payments to produce OS 4 and we have been funding the project ourselves during this past year.

It was actually surprisingly easy to locate and contract very competent external OS developers.

Obviously a lot of technical challenges were met but with the talent-pool we can tap into, this was never in any danger of endangering the project.

Hardware
15-What is your view on the AmigaOne hardware?
These systems are cheaper than similarly specced Mac hardware which is the only relevant point of reference. You cannot compare hardware being built in volumes as low as a few thousand with the millions of units in the x86 world.

Having said that, these systems offer truly excellent performance and with Altivec the most advanced SIMD engine on the desktop platform.

Together with knack of Amiga developers to produce resource conservative software, this will allow AmigaOS to shine.

16-Have you tested OS4.0 on the AmigaOne yet?
To the extent that the development status allows, yes.

17-What hardware have you been writing/testing OS4.0 on?
Cyberstorm PPC and G3/G4 AmigaOne systems.

Testing of individual OS modules has also taken place on MMU based 68K machines to allow us to tap into a larger pool of testers.

18- I remember reading several months ago that you stated that you had requested a bplan/thendic developer board. What is the official word on your request? Have you tried to contact them again?
We did in fact order one by fax quite some time ago but have not heard anything from them since despite public announcements about their willingness to have OS 4 support.

Concerned users did send us copies of e-mails by Thendic top-level managers wherein they make it clear that they believe OS 4 will never be finished.

This might explain why we don't hear from them despite public announcements offering us boards etc.

Partners
19-What is your relationship with Eyetech?
Eyetech is currently the only official OS 4 licensee. We hope others will follow.

Hyperion has no financial stake in sales of the hardware other than through the sale of OS 4.

20-Have you had any contact with the Thendic/MorphOS crew? In the past, yes. I did visit the Thendic offices late 2001 at which time they were still expressing an interest in licensing OS 4.

In Closing
21-Any exclusive news you can share with us??
Watch out for some more Intuition screenshots soon.

22-What can the Amiga community do "right now" to show their support?
They can best help us by being patient a while longer and by buying a copy of OS 4 and/or an AmigaOne once it comes out.

23-Any final words? This is your chance to reach hundreds/thousands of fellow Amiga users.
I keep saying the same thing over and over again: "this time it's for real". I know you were disappointed many times in the past by consecutive promises by people with a whole lot more money and resources than Hyperion but I reassure you, we will deliver.

We have a long road ahead of us and OS 4.0 is only the starting point.

Well folks that it. Hopefully this has answered a few questions. Until next time keep dropping in to see all the new sites added!!!