DiscreetFX recently announced: For the first time AROS customers will have a professional native 3D animation application for their operating system to show off it's true potential. AROS has never had any commercial 3D software released for it.

This is regarding Discreet's Aladdin 4D acquisition.
"On December 17, 2007, DiscreetFX completed the acquisition of Aladdin 4D from Nova Design for an undisclosed sum of money. All remaining inventory of the current version is being shipped to DiscreetFX and Nova Design will no longer be selling this application. DiscreetFX is a leading developer of 3D digital video effects technology. This acquisition extends DiscreetFX's reach into 3D software development in the hobbist and beginner 3D animation industries. This also marks the first time DiscreetFX 100% controls an application. Before today we were always a 3rd party developer for other companies."

The AROS community is definitely excited about this, but there were some questions about Aladdin 4D actually coming to AROS and if the AROS version would be one of the last ports to be worked on. So I went straight to the CEO of DiscreetFX, Bill Panagouleas and asked him. He was gracious enough to answer promptly. Here is his response.

"We are also excited about the AROS version since AROS is a lot easier to get and setup than Amiga OS 4.0 or MorphOS (No "hard to get hardware" required). We also feel this will encourage other developers that might be on the fence to start releasing commercial software for AROS. Something you can do to help. Point me in the right direction for an AROS SDK & IDE.

Also, how does AROS handle OpenGL or some other type of 3D hardware assisted acceleration? We hope the A4D release on AROS will help strengthen the operating system and get more people excited about it.
The AROS version will be worked on as much as the other ports. It might be one of the first versions done since developer systems are in plentiful supply. So far it's looking like the first versions that will get done is the Mac OS X & AROS versions of Aladdin. Great things coming in 2008."

That sounds very promising. As for the help, I can provide information on the AROS SDK and IDE. The AROS SDK can be found here. For an IDE there are only two options I know of. One is Murks for AROS found at the AROS Archives. The other is AmiDevCpp for Windows.
I would suggest that DiscreetFX apply for access to the AROS Developer mailing list and ask questions there. All of the developers read the list and are very responsive to questions.
I think your 3D question needs to be answered by someone more qualified.

I want to thank Bill and DiscreetFX for including AROS in their endeavors and I look forward to seeing Aladdin 4D on AROS!

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In other news, Bill Evans is nearing completion of the AROS port to EFIKA. Read his reply to the request for a last 30 days status report for the bounty.

Marco van den Heuvel aka Blacky_Stardust has finished porting VICEplus to 64-bit AROS. He has uploaded it to the AROS Archives. It is great to see Blacky consistently making VICE available for all flavors of AROS! I love VICE and use it all the time.

Nathaniel "Downix" Downes is porting AROS to run on both OpenBSD and the Sparc. He is making progress and is close on the OpenBSD port. He warns not to expect anything quickly, because he is only working on this in his spare time.

VmwAROS is becoming quite popular already. There is a buzz in the AROS community about it.
Many are hoping to get Velocity in their stocking for Christmas, but no word yet on it's release.
See recent posts on the The AROS Show for more information about these two.

There have been several new bounties created lately at Team AROS. Be sure to check there for more information and please donate if you can!

You might have noticed a new link over on the right hand side of The AROS Show listed as NovaCode. This is my personal programming blog. I have not ever listed it here because it wasn't anything AROS specific, but that has changed. I have made a personal goal to contribute to the future AROS web browser, Traveller, one day. So I am posting about my adventures towards that goal now.

Lastly, I want to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone out there in AROS land! May your stockings be filled with AROS goodies!