Our next confirmed exhibitor has also been our longest-running exhibitor. Known previously as UGN, Bill Borsari and his crew are now AmiWest Webcast. "Since the first AmiWest [in 1998; ed.] we have been bringing the show to the world via the internet. Starting with IRC and webcams in the 1990's to full live video and audio today. Check out www.amiwest.net/broadcast."

We are so happy and honored that Bill and his crew have been with us all 15 years of the AmiWest show! It would not be AmiWest without Bill calling the shots on the netcast.

There are also some possible new features that will be implemented at AmiWest 2012. We don't know what he will be selling from his broadcast booth, but he has indicated that he will be selling something. That just means that YOU will have to come and find out.

So be sure to make your plans to attend AmiWest 2012, the Amiga show on the West Coast of the United States of America! It's all happening at the Ramada Plaza Cal Expo, 2600 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95821. Local phone: 916-487-7606. Come see the latest in Amiga hardware and software October 19-21, 2012. Attend our first-ever AmiWest Programmers conference in conjunction with AmiWest October 18-19, 2012. And watch our blog at blog.amiwest.net for breaking news of AmiWest 2012 as it happens! You don't want to miss it! Organized by the AmiWest committee, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club.

Hyperion developer team lead Steven Solie and his team will instruct at the first ever AmigaOS Programming Seminar in conjunction with AmiWest 2012, October 18-19, 2012. More info on the seminar is located here . This page contains a link to sign up for the event and gives more complete information about it.

The goal of the event, broadly speaking, is to enable Amiga users to become Amiga developers. This is needed for several reasons:

1) Although many people are contributing AmigaOS software at os4depot.net, many more are needed to write, test and debug new apps that take advantage of the unique capabilities of AmigaOS. A few of these capabilities that are visible to the user are:

a) The ability to easily define any number of screens with different color depths and sizes, only limited by available RAM, and drag these windows up and down as desired.

b) True multi-tasking that allows the user access to multiple windows on the same desktop, enabling the user and developer to use program windows simultaneously and see results concurrently. One use of this ability is editing websites in much less time using generic, multi-purpose tools.

2) Starting a conversation between developers that will continue after the event is completed. This conversation among creative people can lead to dynamically powerfu synergies that are as yet unforeseen.

3) You will be able to spend 2 days with major Amiga software develop ers, including Steve Solie, with access to their concepts and abilities.

These reasons alone are enough to motivate me to attend. And I'm sure that you will have your own reasons. A prerequisite to attend is having a grasp of the "C" programming language; so I'm learning "C" to be able to be in attendance. My tutorial of choice is located online here .

There are 12 spots left. So consider coming a day early to AmiWest and joining those of us who have already signed up for this ground-breaking event. Visit the link here to sign up.

Our next confirmed exhibitor is Hyperion Entertainment, the company that brings us AmigaOS 4.x. Hyperion has a very informative website here , including a blog hosted by Developer Team Leader Steven Solie.

Steve will be Hyperion's presence at AmiWest 2012 as well. He is also leading the first ever AmigaOS Programming Seminar in conjunction with AmiWest 2012, October 18-19, 2012. More info on the seminar is located here . Please consider coming a day early to AmiWest and joining those of us who have already signed up for this ground-breaking event.

Hyperion's history can be seen on their site under the "Corporate" link. Founded in 1999, this is Hyperion's thirteenth year. During that time, Hyperion has brought Amiga users OS4.0 and OS4.1, now in update 5. Moving the classic 68K OS to PPC processors has been a great improvement in speed and display as well as many other improvements to the OS "under the hood" that we simply benefit from, mostly invisibly.

AmigaOS 4.1 for Classic Amigas has also been released for Amiga 1200/3000/4000 with Cyberstorm or Blizzard PPC cards. I have seen this in operation and it is an impressive implementation.

The AmigaOS website is another effort launched by Hyperion to further publicize and promote the Amiga. You can access it here .

Hyperion also persisted through several years of legal battles to bring to us, the users and developers of AmigaOS, these updated versions for our use today. Untold hours and financial resources, to say nothing of the stress of the situation, was expended in this successful effort.

They have also posted the excellent video collage Twenty-Five Years of Development in celbration of the 25th anniversay of the Amiga in 2010. Even now, as I am downloading this 152 MB file, I can still work without interruption, browsing the web and blogging simultaenously. Try that with any other OS!

Thank you, Hyperion Entertainment, for many years of faithfulness and just plain hard work, led by the Frieden brothers (Thomas and Hans-Joerg) and, in addition, now by Steven Solie. Thanks also to the many beta-testers and developers that have worked and are working to test and produce the OS and software for the new AmigaOS versions. They are the few serving the interests of the many to continue the vanguard of the Amiga into the future.

So be sure to make your plans to attend AmiWest 2012, the Amiga show on the West Coast of the United States of America! It's all happening at the Ramada Plaza Cal Expo, 2600 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95821. Local phone: 916-487-7606. Come see the latest in Amiga hardware and software October 19-21, 2012. Attend our first-ever AmiWest Programmers conference in conjunction with AmiWest October 18-19, 2012. And watch our blog at blog.amiwest.net for breaking news of AmiWest 2012 as it happens! You don't want to miss it! Organized by the AmiWest committee, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club.

Exhibitors are confirming their presence at AmiWest 2012! We really appreciate the confidence of our exhibitors and their support of our show. Today, we would like to highlight AmigaKit and A-EON.

As we understand it, both AmigaKit and A-EON Technologies are now partners in the Amiga X1000 enterprise. The innovative AmigaOne X1000 is a step forward in next generation Amiga design and construction, built in the U.K. byVariSys. Though we have been attempting to pry out of them what they are bringing, "mum's the word" so far. Trevor Dickinson, principal in A-EON Technologies, said something about "timing" being the reason behind the secrecy. But he did say that something "major" was being planned.

AmigaKit is serving as distributor for the X1000's and supplier of Amiga hardware and software for both the SAM440 series of mainboards and computers as well as classic 68K platforms. We applaud AmigaKit for their continuing support of Amiga users worldwide across the entire spectrum of Amiga platforms, from classic to the X1000.

We are happy to confirm that both of these fine enterprises will be attending and exhibiting at AmiWest 2012. Please refer to their respective websites for further information: AmigaKit andA-EON. Trevor also has an informative bloghere.

Of course, you will want to be at AmiWest 2012 to hear and see it all h appe n in person. Look tomorrow for the next exhibitor confirmation right here on this blog.

So be sure to make your plans to attend AmiWest 2012, the Amiga show on the West Coast of the United States of America! It's all happening at the Ramada Plaza Cal Expo, 2600 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95821. Local phone: 916-487-7606. Come see the latest in Amiga hardware and software October 19-21, 2012. Attend our first-ever AmiWest Programmers conference in conjunction with AmiWest October 18-19, 2012. And watch our blog at blog.amiwest.net for breaking news of AmiWest 2012 as it happens! You don't want to miss it! Organized by the AmiWest committee, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club.

The Ramada Plaza Cal Expo was chosen as our 2012 venue for several reasons:

1) The dates were available. This is difficult to do less than a year in advance, our usual planning horizon.

2) The facilities are what we need. Other properties were too small to accomodate all AmiWest activities.

3) The condition of the facility is the best we have seen in recent years. This was really the best reason to book there. In fact, after touring the facility (including all the meeting rooms, the show hall, the seminar room, and three different guest rooms), it is obvious that the new ownership and management was serious about restoring this hotel to its former good condition. The online website pictures are very accurate; no "airbrush" was used.

We will contine to highlight the facilities as we test all the features advertised (including wi-fi throughout). Continue to watch this blog for the latest information.

So be sure to make your plans to attend AmiWest 2012, the Amiga show on the West Coast of the United States of America! It's all happening at the Ramada Plaza Cal Expo, 2600 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95821. Local phone: 916-487-7606. Come see the latest in Amiga hardware and software October 19-21, 2012. Attend our first-ever AmiWest Programmers conference in conjunction with AmiWest October 18-19, 2012. And watch our blog at blog.amiwest.net for breaking news of AmiWest 2012 as it happens! You don't want to miss it! Organized by the AmiWest committee, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club.

After much negotiation and investigating 6 other sites, the venue for AmiWest 2012 has been secured. Our venue will be the Ramada Plaza Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. This newly renovated hotel has the conference facilities that we need at the right rates for our show. General Manager Vasant Lad is proving to be a good show partner, addressing our concerns to our satisfaction.

Now that the contract is signed, it will take a few days for the room reservation code to become active. Watch this blog for details on the venue and room reservations, to come in the next few days.

So be sure to make your plans to attend AmiWest 2012, the Amiga show on the West Coast of the United States of America! It's all happening at the Ramada Plaza Cal Expo, 2600 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95821. Local phone: 916-487-7606. Come see the latest in Amiga hardware and software October 19-21, 2012. Attend our first-ever AmiWest Programmers conference in conjunction with AmiWest October 18-19, 2012. And watch our blog at blog.amiwest.net for breaking news of AmiWest 2012 as it happens! You don't want to miss it! Organized by the AmiWest committee, Sacramento Amiga Computer Club.