Appearance: UsedFunctionality: WorkingDescription:============As pictured, AmigaTransformer Beta Test Version. Disk is dated 12/24/1985 – approx. 4 monthsbefore the release and is without the Commodore/Amiga copyright notices (Showsonly Simile Research). This version requires EXACTLY an Amiga 1000 NTSC (or emulated)with 512k chip RAM, Kickstart 1.0, and Workbench 1.0.Warranty andReturns:=====================We understand thatthere may be compatibility issues, space constraints, or it just doesn’t lookperfect. This item can be returned within 14-days for ANY reason. However,shipping to and from is not refundable. Shipping:=========- Local pickup isalso available at no cost.- Most orders placedbefore 9am will ship the same day.About Us:=========The ComputerPreservation Group is dedicated to the preservation of historical computers. Tohelp fund ongoing operations, select items are made available. Thank you for your support!Stock#: 8061Details from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulation_on_the_Amiga:When Commodoreintroduced the Amiga 1000 in July 1985 it also unexpectedly announced a software-basedIBM PC emulator for it. The company demonstrated the emulator by booting IBM PCDOS and running Lotus 1-2-3. Some who attended the demonstration were skepticalthat the emulator, while impressive technically, could run with acceptableperformance.[1] The application, called Transformer, was indeed extremely slow;The 'Landmark' benchmark rated it as a 300 kHz 286, far slower than the 4.7 MHzof IBM's oldest and slowest PC. In addition, it would only run on Amigas usingthe 68000 microprocessor, and would not run if the Amiga had more than 512K ofRAM.Details from http://www.pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=36315&type=software:Release Date: 3/1/1986 Manufacturer:Commodore Original RetailPrice: $249.95Adjusted InflationPrice: $497.29* Amiga Transformer,developed by Simile Research, was released bundled with the Amiga 10205.25" drive. It was a software emulator that allowed you to run IBM PCsoftware on your Amiga. Although a number of people wondered why you would wantto do this (since the Amiga itself was so much more powerful and capable thanthe PC) it did not have software like Lotus 123 or other business packages thatwere out at the time in DOS. Although theemulator technically worked, it was quite limited in the software it would run.Text based DOS software ran pretty well, but anything that required morehorsepower either didn't work at all or worked so slowly that it was unusable. Of course, if youwanted to run the software at full speed you could also consider getting the"Sidecar" which was a hardware solution that plugged into the Amiga1000. Still, the very factof its existence showed not only was the Amiga more powerful than a PC (sinceit could actually emulate one) but it also gave some people the comfort ofknowing "well, if I need to run PC software, there is a solution".
