[Coco] Emulator

[Frank Swygert]

Why not go back to an older version of MESS that works well, then pare it down to only emulate the CoCo? It's open source software and can be modified. You could also work with the VCC author on making updates, and there is the Keil emulator also.

Personally, I don't see why updates are that important. The idea of an emulator is to as nearly emulate a CoCo 1/2/3 as possible, not to make an improved machine. If that's what you want to do, however, using an emulator as a base is a good way to go. There are some good inexpensive ITX boards with the Atom and AMD Geode, as well as a PowerPC based chip that would make a wonderful base for a CoCo-like machine that ran OS-9. The only thing is just how compatible can it be? Should be able to make it Level II software compatible with a few minor hacks, but then drivers can be written to intercept output and send it to the appropriate device. 

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Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 23:55:26 +0000
From: TP Reitzel <tpreitzel at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Coco] Emulator
To: <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Message-ID: <SNT116-W52471048D94BD37E1C538BB2ED0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


We need an emulator to replace MESS. For almost a decade, MESS has had recurring problems with regressions, etc. Personally, I just can't deal with it much anymore. Various toolkits are employed which just worsens the situation with regressions. Frankly, I have a lot of venting to do about MESS, but I'll hold my tongue. I've stated as much as the background for our need of  an independent project. Although Vcc is likely still active, it hasn't been updated in awhile. We need a portable, e.g. SDL, fully implemented emulator for all CoCos whether it simply emulates historical machines (CoCo 1-3) or contains newer features as well... 

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
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