[Coco] What would a CoCo successor have to have as a minimum?

[Steve Batson]

Man! Lot's of different ideas here!

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. Some seem to be willing to leave 
compatibility behind or drop it at the CoCo 3 level. Does that really make 
sense? If you drop compatibility, there goes a huge sofware base which 
means you have this new computer with limited stuff to run on it and it 
will not be that appealing to nearly as many. The reason the PC has been so 
popular, is that it maintained compatibility with most software and a lot 
of hardware. Apple with the New Intel iMacs did the same thing in 
maintaining compatibility. They did an awesome job in going from the 
PowerPC to the Intel Processors, rewrote the OS with the Rosetta Emulator 
or Simulator or what ever you want to call it and it runs the PowerPC based 
apps automatically. The new Macs are basically PC motherboards.

I know this thread is focused on the hardware so I will stick with the 
hardware side :)

The question I have is, if a new system is going to be bult, why limit it 
like many have been taking about? Many have been suggesting designs that 
are more powerful than a CoCo, but still limited by today's hardware 
standards. Why do you want to build a computer that probably should have 
been built 10 or 15 years ago. Build a more up to date system with today's 
hardware capabilities (more memory, better graphics, fast processors, etc.) 
and make it compatible with the CoCo's so that the software base is not 
left been behind.

How about building a CoCo 4 board or device that plugs into a PC and 
leaverage all the PC Hardware somehow. Might require some type of basic OS 
or Loader to make it work.
 
It just seems that many of the ideas people are throwing out are causing 
concern because of the cost. Why design something that one is going to 
build or buy because of cost?

Just wondering. I'd buy something that is reasonable, works well and has 
support. But not If it's over priced or not compatible with a good software 
base. As a PC and Mac owner, I'm not going to want to go on to yet another 
system just because it's called a CoCo 4.