Best O.S. for A1200?

[Chewieshmoo]

Last I had my A1200 I was using WB.3.1 from hard drive. Never used anything higher on it. Would that still be the preferred O.S.? Was 3.9 muvh of an improvement or worth using over 3.1?

[Harrison]

AmigaOS 3.5 and 3.9 do offer a lot of enhancements over 3.1. However the reason they are still in the 3.X version group is because everything available in 3.9 is achievable by installing utilities and applications under 3.1. However installing 3.9 makes it easier and does have some improvements to core libraries and other areas.

However you need an upgraded Amiga in order to run 3.9. I wouldn't recommend installing it on an Amiga with anything less than kickstart 3.1, a 68030 and 16MB fast ram. You also require a CD-Rom drive to install the OS.

If you don't want to upgrade the A1200 to these specs then sticking with 3.1 is best. And then I would highly recommend you look at the preconfigured Workbench setup ClassicWB as this sets Workbench up with a very nice predefinied setup that will work well on an unexpanded A1200, although it will still benefit from at least some fast ram.

[Chewieshmoo]

Ah..GREAT INFO THANKS!

One more question then, do the other versions above 3.1 cause any compatability issues?

[Harrison]

AFAIK all software written for Workbench 3.0 and above should work fine using 3.9. And most Workbench 2.0 software should too. Software originally written for Workbench 1.3 will have varying degrees of success. However it is true under 3.1 as well.

3.9 does add better support for graphics cards, networking, larger harddrives as standard (a version of SFS filesystem) etc, so if you had a big box Amiga it is well worth using. However not as much for a desktop A1200. Some use it for the large HD support built in as standard. However I prefer to just set the HDD up using the standalone SFS filesystem with Workbench 3.1 as it is much more lightweight (not bloated with lots of utilities and tools you will never use).

[TiredOfLife]

Never used 3.1 so can't comment on that.
I went from 3.0 straight to 3.9.

The improvements were definitely worth it although as Harrison says, the same effects can be achieved by installing bits for yourself if you already have 3.1.

No compatibitly problems, if anything it was the other way round pre 3.1.
Some stuff would only work with 3.1 and above.