AmigaOS

Chase SenskyCS-550-1: Operating Systems

Fall 2005

History of the AmigaOS

• Atari (1980)– Jay Miner

• Hi-Toro (1982)– Larry Kaplan– Dave Morse– Lorraine

• Amiga (1982)

History of the AmigaOS (cont.)

• Chip Prototypes Completed (1983)– Agnus (Address Generator)– Denise (Display Adapter)– Paula (Ports and Audio)

• Consumer Electronics Show (CES) (1984)

• Commodore (1984)• AmigaOS as a Luxury (1987)

– Preemptive Multitasking– Robust Graphics

History of the AmigaOS (cont.)

• Amiga A3000 (1990)– 32-bit System– SCSI Support– Cleaner, more professional user interface

• AmigaOS 3.0 (1992)– CrossDOS

• Stagnate Sales (1995)• Gateway 2000 (1997)

History of the AmigaOS (cont.)

• AmigaOS 3.5 (1998)– TCP– USB– PowerPC

• AmigaOS 3.9 (2000)– Shareware upgrades and fixes

• AmigaOS 4.0 (2001)– Hyperion VOF– Eyetech Group Ltd.

Kickstart

• Bootstrap ROM• Kernel Components

– Graphical User Interface (GUI)– Preemptive Multitasking Microkernel– File System

• Softkickers• Size

Graphical User Interface

• graphics.library• Custom chipsets• Low level programming• PAL• NTSC• VGA• Intuition

Preemptive Multitasking Microkernel

• Exec.library– Memory– System Lists– Library Management– Scheduling

• TS_RUN• TS_READY• TS_WAIT

File System

• dos library– Communication Between Tasks

• Synchronous• Asynchronous

– File and Directory Naming Conventions• 30 characters• May not contain “:” or “/”

– File Flags– Executable Files

• HUNKS

Graphical Shell

• Workbench– Customization

• Screen fonts• Languages• Wallpaper• Cursors

Strengths

• Multimedia– Custom Graphic Chipsets– Custom Sound Chipsets

• Lightweight• Powerful• Customizable

Weaknesses

• Little Flexibility• File Management• Not Adaptive

Conclusions

• Rich History• Overall Impressed• Eager To See AmigaOS 4.0

– x86 Compatible

• Still Innovative After 20 Years?