Hi,

I recently came accross MSX, and while I have never used a system, something about it intrests me. I have alse been hearing whispers about some kind of new MSX hardware, and I am wondering whether there is a current Z80 or compatable processor based system currently in development? If so, what OS will it be using? Will it have a GUI?

Sorry for all these newb questions, but once answered, Ill be well on my way to being experienced

First of all, welcome to the wonderful world of MSX.

There are a few places you can check out many things about MSX. First place you might want to check out is the Ultimate MSX FAQ. It explains about current MSX soft- and hardware issues including the ones between 1991 and today. The second thing you might like to read is right here. It explains about new developments.

I hope it helps.

Hmm, MSX on a chip. Running Linux OS. Hrmmm, reminds me of NES on a Chip or Atari on a Chip. One thing that annoys me in computing: emulation. Though, I was reading through some news archives about an alternative MSX revival, something to do with real Z80s, now thats the stuff I like.

WiOS, something else I was looking at just then. What does that look like? Would it be able to run on the pesudo MSX on a Chip or other hardware bases MSX systems?

Sorry to bring up another revival thing, but I was reading somewhere (I cant remember where), about some kind of development of a Z380 MSX compatable system. Is that still happening, or even happening at all?

That would be Padial. It started out as a additional CPU for MSX with ROM and about 32 MB of RAM and a slot expander. Later he started to develop a video cartridge with the MSX video chip, and I/O board for (pc) keyboard connectivity and even a sound card. That way it's possible to make a whole MSX system in that expander. The link to his site is right here. And development is still going on afaik.

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One thing that annoys me in computing: emulation.

There's emulation and there's emulation
In the case of the so-called One-chip MSX, the original MSX hardware could be implemented in FPGA, which you can't call conventional emulation.

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Though, I was reading through some news archives about an alternative MSX revival, something to do with real Z80s, now thats the stuff I like.

There are voices indeed in the MSX Revival that wish a complete 100% MSX hardware compatible system (but highly upgraded) to be included on the One-chip MSX, a kind of boosted compatibility mode.

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WiOS, something else I was looking at just then. What does that look like? Would it be able to run on the pesudo MSX on a Chip or other hardware bases MSX systems?

WiOS runs on current MSX's with Gfx9000 graphics board. It's written in C, is pretty slow and nobody really uses it. Although it runs reasonably on a MSX turboR.

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Sorry to bring up another revival thing, but I was reading somewhere (I cant remember where), about some kind of development of a Z380 MSX compatable system. Is that still happening, or even happening at all?

Yes, in fact, there are two such systems competing at this moment. There's the EMSX project from Leonardo Padial (Spain), which is modular, currently available and compatible with current MSX hardware.
Also there's the CIEL3++ from Ademir Carchano (Brazil), a completely new MSX motherboard, including Z382 processor and a lot of other gadgets. This project is still under development.

WiOS could've been greatly supported if it had some sort of assembly support without the need of how the compiled C code sets up the parameter system. Many MSX developers are more into assembly than C.

Is there any GUI based OS for MSX?

Oh yes, thanks for all the information, MSX is getting more and more intereasting.

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Also there's the CIEL3++ from Ademir Carchano (Brazil), a completely new MSX motherboard, including Z382 processor and a lot of other gadgets. This project is still under development.

Now that is the stuff that interests me. I went to look at his website, but it is no longer there, so I am taking it that the project has been abandonded. Is that correct, becasue if it is, thats a real shame.

The page was updated to say he indeed quit all MSX development
It's very unfortunate...