GEOS (16-bit operating system)

Breadbox Ensemble (PC/GEOS)

A screenshot of Breadbox Ensemble 4.1.2
Developer Berkeley Softworks, GeoWorks, NewDeal, Breadbox Computer Company
OS family GEOS
Working state Unofficially discontinued
Source model Closed source
Initial release 1990 (1990)
Latest release 4.1.3 / August 25, 2009 (2009-08-25)
Default user interface Motif or "Win95 clone"
License Proprietary EULA

GEOS is a computer operating environment, graphical user interface, and suite of application software. Originally released as PC/GEOS, it runs on DOS-based, IBM PC compatible computers. The package later became GeoWorks Ensemble, then NewDeal Office, and is now Breadbox Ensemble. Versions for some handheld platforms were also released.

PC/GEOS was first created by Berkeley Softworks, who later became GeoWorks Corporation. Version 4.0 was developed in 2001 by Breadbox Computer Company, LLC, and named Breadbox Ensemble.

PC/GEOS should not be confused with the 8-bit GEOS product from the same company, which runs on the Commodore 64 and other computers using MOS 6502-compatible microprocessors.

PC/GEOS

GeoWorks Ensemble

In 1990, GeoWorks released GEOS for IBM PC compatible systems, PC/GEOS. Also called GeoWorks Ensemble, it was incompatible with the earlier 8-bit versions of GEOS for Commodore and Apple II computers, but provided numerous enhancements, including scalable fonts and multitasking even on XT and AT-class PC clones. GeoWorks saw a market opportunity to provide a graphical user interface for the 16 million older model PCs that were unable to run Microsoft Windows 2.x.[1]

GEOS was packaged with a suite of productivity applications. Each had a name prefixed by "Geo": GeoWrite, GeoDraw; GeoManager; GeoPlanner; GeoDex, and GeoComm. It was also bundled with numerous PCs at the time, but like other GUI environments for the PC platform, such as GEM, it ultimately proved less successful in the marketplace than Windows. Former CEO of GeoWorks claims that GEOS faded away because Microsoft threatened to withdraw supply of MS-DOS to hardware manufacturers who bundled Geoworks with their machines.[2]

In December 1992 NEC and Sony bundled an OEM version of GeoWorks called the CD Manager with their respective CD-ROM players that sold as retail box add-on peripherals for consumers. The NEC Bundle retailed for around $500.00 with a 1x external CD Rom, SCSI Interface Controller, Labtec CD-150 amplified stereo speakers and 10 software titles.

A scaled down version of GeoWorks was used by America Online for their DOS-based AOL client software from the time of introduction on IBM compatible PCs until the late 1990s when America Online dropped development for graphical DOS in favor of Microsoft Windows. During that time, the popular single 3.5" disk that AOL was distributing on could be hacked to boot the GeoWorks graphical operating environment.

IBM released the PC/GEOS-based EduQuest SchoolView network management tool for K-12 schools in 1994.[3] Negotiations to make PC/GEOS an integral part of PC DOS 7.0 failed.

GeoWorks attempted to get third party developers but was unable to get much support due to expense of the developer kit — which ran $1,000 just for the manuals — and the difficult programming environment, which required a second PC networked via serial port in order to run the debugger.

Even though PC/GEOS is referred to as an "operating system", it still requires DOS software in order to load. GEOS and its applications were written in a mix of 8086 assembly (Espire) and C (GOC), both with non-standard language extensions to support the object-oriented design.[4][5]

When, under DR DOS 6.0, TASKMAX is loaded before PC/GEOS, PC/GEOS registered as graphical menu system for TASKMAX.[6] This still worked under the pre-emptive multitasker (EMM386 /MULTI + TASKMGR) provided by Novell DOS 7, OpenDOS 7.01 and DR-DOS 7.02 (and higher), allowing for multiple GEOS and DOS applications to run concurrently.[7]

After release of Ensemble 2.01, GeoWorks dropped support for the desktop version to focus on handhelds and smart devices.

Geoworks Ensemble won the 1991 Software Publishing Association Excellence in Software Award for Best Consumer Program.[8]

NewDeal Office

A newer version of PC/GEOS was marketed in the late 1990s as NewDeal Office from NewDeal Inc. in hopes of creating a market among owners of i386, i486 and Pentium PCs that could not run Windows 95 or Windows 98 effectively.

Breadbox Ensemble

After "NewDeal Inc." went out of business, Breadbox[9] purchased the rights in the software from GeoWorks in 2003. Their newest PC/GEOS, 4.x, is now a full productivity and Internet suite, including Web Browser and Email. Other essential programs such as word processing, spreadsheet, flat file database and graphics applications are integrated into this package.

On 2015-11-14, Frank S. Fischer, the CEO and owner of Breadbox Ensemble LLC, died of a heart attack, some while after announcing plans to bring GEOS to Android.[10][11][12]

Versions

PEN/GEOS

PEN/GEOS 1.0 was the new name for PC/GEOS 2.0 when GeoWorks released it on 9 April 1992. Alongside the Newton OS from Apple, PEN/GEOS 1.0 on Zoomer devices pioneered PDA technology.[13] GEOS was also used in the low-end GeoBook laptop from Brother Industries and in several of Nokia Communicator models (GEOS V3.0 in Nokia Communicator 9000 and 9110). PEN/GEOS 2.0 was released in 1992, and version 3.0 was released in 1995.

"Zoomer" devices; Tandy Z-PDA, AST GridPAD 2390, Casio Z-7000 & XL 7000

PEN/GEOS 1.0 was used as the operating system for the Tandy Z-PDA,[14] which was introduced shortly after the first Apple Newton MessagePad. Palm Computing had been incorporated to create software for this device[15] and shipped its first handwriting recognition software, PalmPrint, personal information manager, Palm Organizer, and synchronization software, PalmConnect,[13] on the Z-PDA. Palm Organizer included the PalmSchedule date book, PalmAddress address book, PalmNotes notebook, a dictionary, calculator, clock, forms calculator, 26 language translation dictionary, on-line help, holiday, and travel information.[16][17][18] The device was also sold under license as the AST GridPAD 2390[19] and as the Casio Z-7000 which was the best selling version. In the USA, Casio sold it under the name XL-7000 without the multi-lingual interface, but added an AOL client and some USA specific help files. These devices were all called "Zoomer" and were the first PDAs with a connection to the online services CompuServe and AOL. This was made possible through the pre-installed dial-up software CompuServeAOL.

HP OmniGo 100 & 120

In 1993, GeoWorks released PEN/GEOS 2.0, again based on PC/GEOS 2.0. In 1995, this version of GEOS appeared (running on top of DOS) on the HP OmniGo 100. It featured Graffiti handwriting recognition. The OmniGo is a flip-around clamshell handheld computer powered by a Vadem VG230 integrated PC-on-a-chip. The VG230 chip includes an Intel 80186-instruction set compatible NEC V30 core. It was soon followed by the HP OmniGo 120, which added a high-contrast screen.

Brother LW-Writing System

Brother LW-screen typewriters use PEN/GEOS and are the only version of the operating system that ships with vendor-provided drivers for scanner and it included a GEOS scanning application. In Germany, the Brother LW750ic system is equipped with PEN/GEOS.

Brother GeoBook

In 1997, Brother, in collaboration with IBM, brought the GeoBook series of notebooks to market. GeoBook models NB-60, NB-80C and PN-9100GR used a modified version of PEN/GEOS using the Yago user interface. The GeoBook series was marketed mainly in education and was part of the "IBM Eduquest School View" strategy.

Nokia Communicator 9000(i) and 9110(i)

In 1996, the Nokia 9000 Communicator smartphone was introduced. This phone uses PEN/GEOS 3.0 and established the smartphone market. Nokia followed with Communicator models 9000i, 9110 and 9110i.

GEOS-SC

GEOS-SC was a 32-bit RISC-CPU smartphone OS & GUI for the Japanese cellphone-market. It was released in 1997. Originally built as GeoWorks' planned future OS and codenamed 'Liberty', GEOS-SC became the basis for cellphones designed by Mitsubishi Electric Company of Japan (MELCO).

GEOS-SE

Alongside this, GEOS-SE which was an OS designed and developed by Eden Ltd. a UK-based company acquired in 1997 by Geoworks. It became the basis of several other devices, most notably the Seiko Epson Locatio which was a multifunction device incorporating browser, PIM software, phone, GPS and Camera. It was launched in Japan in 1998.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Loli, Eugenia (2002-10-03). "Interview With Adam de Boor, ex-CTO of GeoWorks". OSnews, Inc. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  2. ↑ Brian Dougherty, ed. (June 24, 2010). "Comments by BrianDoc". Retrieved 2012-06-15. What killed us was that Microsoft realized what we had before the rest of the industry, they went to all of their OEMs and signed them to 2 year exclusive deals to put Windows on every machine.
  3. ↑ http://s266590939.online.de/Infobase/WBB_317/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=256
  4. ↑ James D. "Wiffleguy" Bearden, ed. (May 14, 1995). "PC/GEOS FAQ List". Section 2.1.1. Retrieved 2011-11-02. either of two languages: one is called GOC (GEOS Object C), and the other is Esp (an object-oriented assembly language based on the 8086 assembly instruction set)
  5. ↑ Eugenia Loli-Queru (3 October 2002). "Interview With Adam de Boor, ex-CTO of GeoWorks". OSNews. Retrieved 2011-11-02. the OS was written entirely in 8088 assembly language
  6. ↑ Caldera, Inc. (August 1997). OpenDOS Developer's Reference Series — Multitasking API — Programmer's Guide. UK. Caldera Part No. 200-DODG-004. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  7. ↑ Paul, Matthias (1997-07-30) [1994]. NWDOS-TIPs — Tips & Tricks rund um Novell DOS 7, mit Blick auf undokumentierte Details, Bugs und Workarounds (e-book). MPDOSTIP (in German) (3, release 157 ed.). Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2014-08-06. NWDOSTIP.TXT is a comprehensive work on Novell DOS 7 and OpenDOS 7.01, including the description of many undocumented features and internals. It is part of the author's yet larger MPDOSTIP.ZIP collection maintained up to 2001 and distributed on many sites at the time. The provided link points to a HTML-converted older version of the NWDOSTIP.TXT file.
  8. ↑ "Celebrating Software". Computer Gaming World. June 1991. p. 64. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Breadbox Pens GEOS Exclusive License and Ownership Rights Agreement with Geoworks, 2003-04-29, Breadbox Computer Company LLC / Archived 2008-08-22 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sptimes/obituary.aspx?n=frank-s-fischer&pid=176527846&fhid=3790
  11. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/3t6cbu/frank_fischer_ceo_of_breadbox_computing_owner_of/
  12. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/geosresource/news/breadboxpresidentfounderdies
  13. 1 2 Butter, Andrea; Pogue, David (2002). Piloting Palm: The Inside Story of Palm, Handspring, and the Birth of the Billion-Dollar Handheld Industry. John Wiley & Sons. p. 56. ISBN 9780471223399.
  14. ↑ "Tandy Z-PDA Catalog #25-3100". RadioShack. 2004-10-25.
  15. ↑ Hahn, Brian K. (2004). "The Tandy ZOOMER".
  16. ↑ GRIDPAD 2390 User's Manual (PDF). AST Research, Inc. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. ↑ Smithson, Brian (1995-05-09). "Zoomer Technical Info; Tandy Z-PDA". Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  18. ↑ Smithson, Brian (1996-01-17). "Zoomer Pictures; application screen shots".
  19. ↑ Buxton, Bill. "Buxton Collection; GRIDPAD 2390". Microsoft Research. Retrieved 2014-05-01. This [Gridpad 2390] device is one of three identical Zoomer devices—the other two being the Casio Z-7000 and the Tandy Z-PDA—developed by Palm. This is their first product. The Zoomer failed, but turned out to be the stepping stone that led to the success of the Palm Pilot.
Notes
  • GEOWORKS. (1990). "Product Packaging (a printed card box with corrugated card liner) Part number: 16-2001-0101 Bar Code: 0 14233 20010 6". GeoWorks, Berkeley, CA 94704

Further reading

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