Lazarus
Developer: Mac the Knife
Announced: 28th October, 1998 |
On the 28th of October 1998 at 12:46pm, a web site based upon
the popular news stand magazine, MacWeek printed a story by a
character known as "Mac the Knife" that announced the direction of
the Next Generation Amiga. This was around 1 month before Amiga Inc
announced their partnership with QNX but revealed a number of
details about the "new system." The first was its codename,
"Lazarus". This is quite a fitting name as Lazarus is a biblical
figure that was bought back from the dead by Jesus Christ according
to the New Testament. The parallels between this and the Amiga are
quite obvious. Since 1994, Amiga users have hoped that its owners
would bring the system back from the brink of obscurity.
Over the last two years the Apple Macintosh community has looked
to the Amiga with a lot of interest, taking it more seriously than
it ever did in the past, and has mentioned Amiga PPC-based systems
such as the A/Box, Pre/Box and Lazarus as potential allies. This
rumour was spread using a usually highly-respected Mac E-zine, from
information provided by an individual known as "Mac the knife,"
leading many to conclude that it was genuine. Amiga Inc.
immediately announced some damage control with a series of
statements that unveiled the Lazarus machine as a fake. Gary Peake,
owner of Team Amiga added that it was a planted story to coincide
with the closing of the Lazarus pirate games site by an unknown
figure (our bets are on Cancer man).
The "new" system was, or is, to run AmigaOS 4.0 on a 266MHz
PowerPC G3 and Intel processors. It is also supposedly able to run
Mac software through some form of native Mac 68040 emulation, as
well as a 3Gb hard drive, 15" monitor, 16MB SDRAM, 32x CD-ROM, two
USB ports, two RS-232C serial ports, EPP port, SVGA video port,
four PCI slots, three Zorro slots, a V.90 56-kbps modem, a SCSI 3
port. and the choice of either a high density or Zip drive.. An
optional extra will also include the BeOS system.
Mac
the Knife claims that the hardware will also be capable of
running BeOS and the Mac OS (though only in 68040 emulation). These
will be available for around $1,400.
Just a few days later Amiga Inc. issued a rumour control stating
that the Lazarus system was not the new Amiga. The first was issued
by Fleecy Moss on the Comp.sys.amiga.misc newsgroup followed by a
press statement by Bill McEwen,
Thu, 29 Oct
1998 08:12:36
comp.sys.amiga.misc
Mac the knife? Mac the Naff more
like...
fleecy@netreach.net
fleecy moss at Black Sheep Enterprises
For those concerned about the recent Mac
the Naff article describing LazyRus, the new snoozy walrus rumoured
to be breeding up in the flat, flat lands of South Dakota, please
rest assured that this story is about as factual as a Milosevic
peace accord.
We would never present the Amiga community
with something so ordinary.
Whilst Apple and all their little pips may
be happy with an average machine stored in a translucent blue
potty, we are set to rewrite the manifesto for the digital
information revolution.
...unfortunately, as with most good
things, it takes time.
An Open Letter to the Amiga Community -
October 29, 1998
The recent article in MacWeek
concerning the Gateway/Amiga computer is completely
false.
While entertaining reading there is no
truth to the story.
I am sure that we will all look
forward to the next story from another non-Amiga publication, as
they try to get it right.
Thank you again for your
support.
Bill McEwen
Head of Marketing, Amiga
Inc.
billm@amiga.com
425-413-2620
Fax 425-413-2640
(C) 1998 Amiga Inc.
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Last Update: 1/11/2001
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