AmigaOS versions
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There have been many different versions of the AmigaOS operating system during its two decades of history.
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[edit] Kickstart/Workbench 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
The 1.x versions are the original implementation of AmigaOS. They defaulted to a distinctive blue and orange colour scheme which was designed to give high contrast on even the worst of television screens (it could easily be changed by the user). Versions 1.1 consisted mostly of bug fixes. Versions 1.0 and 1.1 were distributed only on floppy disks for the Amiga 1000.
Version 1.2 was the first to have Kickstart on a ROM and Workbench on one or two floppy disks. Workbench was then booted from floppy disk or installed on a hard disk on later machines. The early Kickstarts were still available on floppies for Amiga 1000 owners. These versions were shipped in ROM with the A500, A1500, CDTV (1.3 only) and A2000. Version 1.2 of Kickstart fixed many bugs, greatly improving the stability of the system, and added AutoConfig support which could automatically configure expansion boards. Release 1.3 had few changes to Kickstart (mainly to enable autobooting hard disks) but had many improvements in Workbench, including a much faster file system for hard disks, an improved CLI, and various extra programs.
[edit] AmigaBASIC and ABasiC
- Main article: AmigaBASIC
Versions 1.1 through 1.3 shipped with AmigaBASIC, a BASIC implementation designed by Microsoft (this was the only software ever written by Microsoft for the Amiga).
AmigaBASIC was discontinued with the launch of Kickstart/Workbench 2.x.
Version 1.0 shipped instead with a different BASIC language, called ABasiC, implemented by MetaComCo. Where AmigaBASIC was oriented around creating graphical user interfaces, ABasiC was more similar to the BASIC interpreters shipped with older 8-bit systems, and was geared towards text based applications.
[edit] Kickstart/Workbench 1.4
Kickstart/Workbench 1.4 was a beta version of the upcoming 2.0 update and never released, but the Kickstart part was shipped in very small quantities with early Amiga 3000 computers, where it is often referred to as the "Superkickstart ROM". In these machines it is only used to bootstrap the machine and load the Kickstart that will be used to actually boot the system. The appearance is similar to that of 2.0 and higher, with just minor differences. It is, however, possible to dump out of the OS selection screen by clicking where one would expect to see a close gadget. This will cause the machine to boot Kickstart 1.4 using either the wb_2.x: partition, or from a floppy.
[edit] Kickstart/Workbench 2.0, 2.05, 2.1
Kickstart/Workbench 2.0 introduced a lot of major advances to the Amiga operating system. Gone was the harsh blue and orange colour scheme, replaced with a much easier on the eye grey and light blue. The Workbench was no longer tied to the 640×256 (PAL) or 640×200 (NTSC) display modes, and much of the system was improved with an eye to making future expansion easier. For the first time, a standardised "look and feel" was added. This was done by creating the Amiga Style Guide, and including libraries and software which assisted developers in making conformant software. Technologies included the GUI element creation library gadtools, the software installation scripting language Installer, and the AmigaGuide hypertext help system.
Workbench 2.04 introduced ARexx, a system-wide scripting language. Programmers could add so-called "ARexx ports" to their programs, which allowed them to be controlled from ARexx scripts. Using ARexx, you could make two completely different programs from different vendors work together seamlessly. For example, you could batch-convert a directory of files to thumbnail images with an ARexx capable image manipulation program, create and index HTML table of the thumbnails linking to the original images, and display it in a web browser, all from one script. ARexx became very popular, and was widely adopted by programmers.
The AmigaDOS, previously written in BCPL and very difficult to develop for beyond basic file manipulation, was mostly rewritten in C.
Unfortunately, some badly written software – especially games – failed to run with 2.x, and so a lot of people were upset with this update. Most often, the failure occurred because programmers had used directly manipulated private structures maintained by the operating system, rather than using official function calls. Many users circumvented the problem by installing so-called "kickstart switchers", a small circuit board which held both a Kickstart 1.3 and 2.0 chip, with which they could swap between Kickstart versions at the flick of a switch.
2.x shipped with the A500+ (2.04), A600 (2.05), A3000 and A3000T. Workbench 2.1 was the last in this series, and only released as a software update. It included useful features such as CrossDOS, to support working with floppy disks formatted for PCs. Since 2.1 was a software-only release, there was no Kickstart 2.1 ROM.
2.x also introduced PCMCIA card support, for the slot on the A600.
[edit] Kickstart/Workbench 3.0, 3.1
3.x was another major update. Updates included:
- A universal data system, known as datatypes, that allowed programs to load pictures, sound and text in formats they didn't understand directly, through the use of standard plugs (see object-oriented operating system)
- A system-standard localization system, allowing the user to make an ordered list of preferred languages; when a locale-aware application runs, it asks the operating system to find the catalog (a file containing translations of the application's strings) best matching the user's preferences
- Colour remapping for low-colour display modes
- Improved visual appearance
- Better support for background images
3.x shipped with the CD32, A1200, A4000 and A4000T.
[edit] AmigaOS 3.5, 3.9
After the demise of Commodore, the later owners of the Amiga trademark granted a license to a German company called Haage & Partner to update the Amiga's operating system. Along with this update came a change in the way people referred to the Amiga's operating system. Rather than specifying "Kickstart" or "Workbench", the updates were most often referred to as simply "AmigaOS".
Updates included:
- CD filesystem support as standard
- Distribution on CD instead of floppy disk
- Supplied with TCP/IP stack, web browser (AWeb), and e-mail client
- Improved GUI, called "ReAction"
- AVI/MPEG movie player (OS3.9)
- Support for hard disks larger than 4GB (a limitation from 1.x)
- HTML documentation (English and German)
- MP3 and CD audio player (OS3.9)
- Dock program (OS3.9)
- Improved Workbench
- Find utility (OS3.9)
- ASync workbench (no more waiting for files to be copied)
[edit] AmigaOS 4
A new version of AmigaOS was released on December 24, 2006 after five years of development by Hyperion Entertainment under license from Amiga, Inc for AmigaOne registered users.
The new version is PowerPC native, finally abandoning the Motorola 68k processor. Since there is no more 68000 based Amiga hardware, AmigaOS 4.0 will run on PowerPC hardware, which currently only includes A1200, A3000 and A4000 with PowerPC accelerator boards and AmigaOne motherboards. Amiga, Inc.'s distribution policies for AmigaOS 4.0 and any later versions requires that for third party hardware the OS must be bundled with it, with the sole exception of Amigas with Phase 5 PowerPC accelerator boards, for which the OS will be sold separately.
As of April 2006, there is still only one license holder, which is the company that was consulted by Amiga, Inc. to create this distribution model, Eyetech. Eyetech no longer offers Mai Logic's Teron series motherboards under the licensed label AmigaOne and has since abandoned the platform. No hardware for Amiga OS 4.0 has been produced since or is in production.
Main features planned for AmigaOS 4.0:
- Tripos (BCPL) legacy code removed
- Improved TCP/IP stack, including firewall capabilities
- Fully skinnable GUI
- Virtual memory
- Limited memory protection
- CD/DVD writer support, including Mt. Rainier
- Integrated debugger
- Integrated viewer for PDF and other document formats
- Enhanced shared library model
- Support for PowerPC (native) and 68k (emulated JIT) applications
- Improved input device support
- Support for modern hardware devices
- New USB stack
- New PCI stack
- New interface module (replaces the jump table of classic AmigaOS)
- Stack enlargement
- Resource tracking
- Faster memory allocation system, similar to what’s used on Solaris
- 2 GB file limit removed
- New version of AmiDock with plug in support
- New CDFilesystem with Joliet and HFS support, DVDRW support
- HDToolbox replacement
- New HD Recovery tool
- Added support for Truetype and Postscript fonts, with optional anti-aliasing
- Integrated Picasso 96 2D Graphics API
- Integrated Warp3D 3D Graphics API
- Integrated AHI Sound API
[edit] External links
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| Companies | Commodore International • Hyperion Entertainment |
| Computers | Amiga |
| Technology | Workbench • Intuition • AmigaDOS • ARexx • AmigaBASIC • Amigaguide • Software • Games • Demos |
| Operating systems | AmigaOS (versions) • AROS • MorphOS |
