AmigaOS 4

AmigaOS 4

File:AmigaOS 4.1-b.png A screenshot of AmigaOS 4.1.
Developer	Hyperion Entertainment
OS family	AmigaOS
Working state	Current
Source model	Closed source
Latest release	4.1 Update 1 / January 14, 2010 (2010-01-14)
Platforms	PowerPC
Kernel type	A typical microkernel
Default user interface	Workbench
License	Proprietary
Official website	AmigaOS 4.0 official website Hyperion Entertainment

AmigaOS 4 (OS4, AOS4) is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code and some on version 3.9. "The Final Update" was released in 24 December 2006 (originally released in May 2004) after five years of development by the Belgian company Hyperion Entertainment under license from Amiga, Inc. for AmigaOne registered users.^[1]

During the five years of development, users of AmigaOne machines could download Pre-Release versions of AmigaOS 4.0 from Hyperion repository as long as these were made available. As witnessed by many users into Amiga discussion forum sites, these versions were stable and reliable, despite the fact that they were technically labeled as "Pre-Releases".

In 20 December 2006, Amiga, Inc abruptly terminated^[2] the contract of Hyperion to produce or sell AmigaOS 4. Nevertheless, AmigaOS 4.0 was released commercially for Classic Amigas with CyberstormPPC and BlizzardPPC accelerator cards later in November 2007^[3] (it had previously been available only to developers and beta-testers). And the Italian computer company ACube Systems has also announced Sam440ep^[4] and Sam440ep-flex motherboards, which are AmigaOS 4 compatible. Moreover, a third party bootloader, known as the "Moana" was released on torrent sites. Which allows for install of the Sam440ep version of OS4 to Mac Mini G4's. However this is both unofficial and unsupported as of today, and very incomplete, especially in the drivers area. During the judicial procedure (between Hyperion and Amiga, Inc),^[5] OS4 was still being developed^[6] and distributed^[7][8], and OS4 software was (and is) published daily ^[9].

In 30 September 2009, Hyperion Entertainment and Amiga, Inc reached settlement agreement where Hyperion is granted an exclusive, perpetual, worldwide right to AmigaOS 3.1 in order to use, develop, modify, commercialize, distribute and market AmigaOS 4.x and subsequent versions of AmigaOS (including without limitation AmigaOS 5).^[10] Hyperion has assured it will continue the development and the distribution of AmigaOS 4.x (and beyond) as it has done since November 2001.^[11]

There have been many different versions of the AmigaOS operating system (OS) during its two decades of history.

The first AmigaOS was introduced in 1985 and developed by Commodore International. It was nicknamed Workbench from the name of its Graphical user interface (GUI), due to an error of Commodore Marketing and Sales Department, which labeled the OS disk just with the name "Workbench Disk" and not with the correct name "AmigaOS Disk (Workbench)". The first versions of AmigaOS (1.0 and up to 1.3) are here indicated with the name of their original disks to preserve original custom.

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 of a very early first release of 1.4 was similar to 1.3, but with colors slightly changed. A second version was 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.

Workbench 2.0 improvements introduced a lot of major advances to the GUI of Amiga operating system. The blue and orange colour scheme was replaced with a grey and light blue with 3D aspect in the border of the windows. 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.

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". Whereas all previous OS releases were Motorola 68000 compatible, some OS components from release 3.5 onwards required a 68020 or better.

Eventually Hyperion Entertainment developed the PowerPC native AmigaOS 4 (OS4). Unlike the previous versions which were based on the Motorola 68k central processor, OS4 is running only on PowerPC computer systems. Amiga, Inc.'s (current Amiga trademark owners) distribution policies for AmigaOS 4.0 and any later versions require that OS4 must be bundled with all new third-party hardware "Amigas", with the sole exception of Amigas with Phase5 PowerPC accelerator boards, for which OS4 is sold separately.

Prominent features compared to other operating systems or previous versions of AmigaOS:^[12]

• Quick on / instant off / fast reboot: OS4 boots and reboots up in a few seconds, and can be switched off in an instant by just hitting the off switch.^[13]
• Responsiveness: Optimized to respond to user actions in an instant. A fully pre-emptive multitasking scheduler ensures that important tasks will get a fair share of processing time.

• Screens: You can have as many different screens as you like for any purpose, each with its own application on it. Or you can open a "public screen" which several applications can share. Switching between different screens takes an instant, and you can come back to an application and find it exactly how you left it. It is even possible to drag the current screen down to reveal another screen behind it, so that you can view two screens simultaneously, or even drag and drop files and other content from one screen to another.^[14]
• Customisable GUI: Allows to replace window gadgets with new designs, apply gradients or textures of your choice to virtually every graphical element in the interface. It is possible to alter the geometry of the window drawing to suit personal taste, change font usage throughout the interface, configure the appearance of menus and chose own 3D effects. Having a different look for each public screen is also feasible.
• Menuing: The menu bar appears at the top of the screen when pressed down the right mouse button, and disappears when it is not needed, thus reducing screen clutter and giving more room to work.

• Clear file structure: Operating system files are divided up into clearly labelled drawers (folders) so you know exactly where to find whatever you're looking for. For example, all libraries are stored in "Libs:" standard virtual device and absolute path finder for "Libs" directory, Fonts are all in "Fonts:" absolute locator, the files for language localization are all stored in "Locale:" and so on.
• RAM disk: Like a virtual hard drive, it acts like any other disk, and stores files and data in memory rather than on your actual hard drive. The RAM disk is dynamically resizable and takes up only as much of your memory as it needs to. It can be used as a temporary store for your own purposes or as a place for software installers to put temporary files, and is cleared out at reboot so you won't be cluttering up your computer with thousands of unnecessary files that bog down your system. Additionally there is an optional RAD disk, a recoverable version of the RAM disk, which preserves contents after a reboot.^[15]
• Datatypes: Recognises and handles file types: displaying a picture, playing a music file, decoding a video file, rendering a web page etc. Any application can access Datatypes transparently, and thus have the ability to use any file that you have a Datatype for.
• Icon handling: A file can have a default icon representing the type of file or a custom icon specific to the individual file. Additionally icons can store extra commands about the associated file - which program to open it in, for example.
• Assigning devices: Instead of assigning drives (devices) a letter or fixed label, each drive can be given a name. Drives can be given more than one name so the system always knows where things are, if it is the system boot drive it is also known as "Sys:". Areas of hard drive can be assigned a label as if they were a virtual disk. For example, it is possible to mount MP3 players as "MP3:" and external networked resources as logical devices.

• Dockies: It is a fully configurable docking bar for icons, allowing quick access to most used applications. These dock bar icons, "Dockies", are fully dynamic, which means they can show real-time content and act as useful micro tools. A Docky might act as a magnifying glass, display the time, or show you the latest weather forecast or stock market information direct from the Internet.
• Scripting: Implemented scripting as a fundamental feature. Using the AREXX scripting language and Python it is possible to automate, integrate and remote control almost every application and function of the computer. Function sets and tools from several applications can be brought together into a single, integrated interface to allow the most complex jobs to be performed with the utmost simplicity.

• The Grim Reaper: The "Guru Meditation" is replaced by "The Grim Reaper", a crash handling system that catches crashes and lock ups, and stops them from getting out of control. It can provide complete information about the crash and can simply kill the offending task and free up the resources it was using.
• AmiUpdate: Is an updating system designed purely for the latest incarnation of the AmigaOS 4.^[16] It is capable to update OS files and also all Amiga programs which are registered to use the same update program that is standard for Amiga. Updating AmigaOS requires only few libraries to be put in standard OS location "Libs:", "Fonts:" etc. This leaves Amiga users with a minimal knowledge of the system almost free to perform by hand the update of the system files.

Released (only version 4.0) for PowerPC Classic Amigas:

• BlizzardPPC equipped Amiga 1200 (A1200)
• DeveloperPPC (rare) equipped Amiga 2000 (A2000)
• CyberstormPPC equipped Amiga 3000 (A3000)
• CyberstormPPC equipped Amiga 4000 (A4000)

Released for AmigaOne motherboards:

• AmigaOne-SE (A1-SE)
• AmigaOne-XE (A1-XE)
• Micro-AmigaOne (Micro-A1)
• AmigaOne X1000, a new AmigaOne computer has been announced by a company called A-Eon. Hyperion have indicated that this board will be supported by AmigaOS 4.x. The X1000 is not available at this time yet.^[17]

Released for Pegasos systems:

• Pegasos II^[18]

Released for Sam440 systems:

• Sam440ep^[19][20]
• Sam440ep-flex

Unofficial Moana Bootloader for Sam440 4.0

• Mac Mini G4 meeting the requirements

The AmigaOS 4.0 Developer Pre-Release consisted of a snapshot of AmigaOS 4.0 for the AmigaOne platform with a straightforward HTML installation guide in English, German, French and Italian as well as the AmigaOS 4.0 SDK.

The AmigaOS 4.0 SDK^[21] allowed effortless migration of existing AmigaOS versions 3.x source code to OS 4.0 as well as the creation of altogether new content.

AmigaOS 4.0 Developer Pre-Release Update^[22] came in the form of a full ISO image (≈33 MB) which needed to be burned on CD-R(W) by the user and was intended to replace the original AmigaOS 4.0 Developer Pre-release CD for installation and for rescue purposes.

Release date: 10 October 2004.

Among the features:

• Kernel-level Altivec support
• Much improved compatibility and speed of 68k emulation (JIT not included yet)
• Improved 68k FPU emulation
• Fully PowerPC-native Picasso96 graphics system
• Fully PowerPC-native MUI
• USB support for input devices
• Support for onboard serial and parallel hardware
• Driver support for the SiI0680 IDE adaptor (including UDMA support)
• Improved PIO mode VIA driver
• Improved Internet capabilities and better Ethernet support
• Printing support
• Improved audio hardware support, including new drivers
• Comprehensive bug fixes, speed improvements, added features and functionality across all system components

AmigaOS 4.0 Developer Pre-Release Update^[23]

The second AmigaOS 4.0 Developer Pre-Release update came in the form of a free download for registered users.

Release date: 27 December 2004.

• Kernel 51.20
• dos.library 51.24
• CrossDOS FS 51.19
• Timer device 51.4
• loader-51.6
• Mass Storage Support for USB
• Updated USB stack
• elf library 51.5
• Moovid PPC
• SmartFileSystem 1.234
• newlib.library 2.8
• CDFileSystem 51.4
• rtg.library 41.4252
• graphics.library 51.12
• Grim Reaper 51.4

The third pre-release update required at least AmigaOS 4.0 (update 1).^[24]

Release date: 14 June 2005.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of the features of update #3:^[25]

• New kernel. The new kernel includes numerous optimizations, bug fixes and new features. It can now run a special variety of ixemul library and thus run all of the ADE. ELF library has a memory leak fixed.
• New IDE devices. IDE drivers are included for the VIA 686B onboard and Silicon Images 0680 parallel ATA controllers, and the Silicon Images SiI3112, SiI3512 and SiI3114 Serial ATA controllers. All of these support UDMA on hard disks and CD–DVD drives.
• New Picasso96 graphics and monitor drivers. The new monitor drivers support use of vertical blanking interrupts for display synchronization. Limited gamma support is available in the Voodoo driver.
• Warp3D V51. This update contains Warp3D V51, the all new, OS4-native version of the classic 3D hardware driver system. This release includes completely re-written drivers for the Voodoo 3 (Avenger), Voodoo 4/5 (Napalm) and the Radeon 7x00 series of graphics cards. New features include single-cycle multitexture support (two simultaneous units on the Voodoos, three on the Radeon) with simplified and extended combiner modes, interleaved vertex arrays, up to 8-bit stencil buffer support (where supported by hardware), and more.
• WarpUp support. The new powerpc.library emulates loading and execution of WarpUp binaries. There are a few remaining compatibility issues, especially in conjunction with * * Warp3D, that are still being worked on.
• New Shell and updated shell commands
• Updated ReAction GUI classes and new intuition
• New Roadshow TCP/IP stack and updated eth3com.device
• All new version of the Sirion USB stack and usbprinter.device
• Updated datatypes
• Updated Preferences programs
• Updated Locale

The most prominent features of the fourth AmigaOS 4.0 Developer Pre-release update were the return of the screen dragging ability and the Petunia Just-In-Time 68k emulator.

Release date: 8 February, 2006.^[26]

The new features in this pre-release include:

• All-new Warp3D with support for Voodoo 3/4/5 and ATI Radeon models 7000, 7200, 7500, 9000, 9200 and 9250.
• Petunia just-in-time 68k emulator.
• All-new Intuition with advanced features like flicker-free window redraw and new screen dragging features (among other things, screens can be dragged freely in any direction and will reveal other screens beneath even if dragged sideways)
• Updated ExecSG kernel
• New Extended Input System allows the use of mouse wheels on both PS/2 and USB mice, and the use of multimedia keyboards (with keys like volume control, play/pause etc)
• And much much more. Practically ALL components of the system have been updated.

On 24 December 2006 "The Final Update" was released. It came as an ISO image (≈45 MB) and had to be burned onto a CD. The CD is bootable and may be used as a standalone installation CD.^[1][27]

AmigaOS 4.0 Final introduced a new memory system based on the slab allocator that supports "on the fly" defragmentation of the memory space, memory allocation on mass storage devices (paging memory, implemented since AmigaOS 4.1) and Symmetric multiprocessing (not implemented yet).^[28][29]

Features of AmigaOS 4.0^[30], among others:

• Fully skinnable GUI
• 680x0 emulator
  • Implemented JIT and improved compatibility
  • Optimized, 10% to 50% faster
• Screenblanker system which supports external plugins as new blanker modules
• TRIPOS (BCPL) - latest legacy code removed
• Improved TCP/IP stack, including firewall capabilities
• 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
• 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 is used on Solaris
• 2 GB file size 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

Release date: 18 July 2007.^[31]

Improvements of AmigaOS 4.0 July 2007 Update are:

• New ExecSG kernel. The new kernel includes, among other things:
  • Support for guard-page protected stacks. Stacks will have guard pages at their bottoms to prevent programs from writing over innocent memory
  • A new semaphore type called Mutex that is Forbid-free.
  • Support for the new pthreads module
• A new library that supports most of the POSIX thread (pthreads) API
• A new ELF library that implements UN*X-type shared objects and dynamic linking. Shared objects are files that are loaded during runtime of a program and become part of the program's memory image. They have access to symbols and procedures of the main program as well as any other shared object loaded.
• Amiga Python 2.5.1. This new version of the interpreted language is implemented as a shared object.

AmigaOS 4.0 for Amiga 1200, Amiga 3000(T) and Amiga 4000(T) series of computers equipped with 603e or 604e CPU cards was put on sale in November 2007. The feature set was equal to the July 2007 update with drivers for "classic" expansion cards and devices^[32] and some minor improvements (e.g. AmigaInput).

Update of AmigaOS 4.0 for classic Amiga computers addressed some issues and compatibility problems.

Release date: 23 February 2008.^[33]

• A new kernel that fixes outstanding issues with the Mediator 1200/Voodoo combination as well as some other minor bugfixes
• Support for all Mediator models, including the new Mediator 1200 TX
• Updated Intuition and Layers modules that fix a rare occurrence of graphics trashing
• Fixed queue-handler
• Two AREXX libraries that had been missing in the original release
• Updated RealTek 8029 network driver that fixes a lockup problem.
• A new version of DvPlayer SE.

AmigaOS 4.1^[34] was presented to public on 11 July 2008, and was put on sale in September 2008.

This is a new version and not only a simple update as it features, among others:

• Intelligent memory paging
• JXFS filesystem with the support for drives and partitions of multiple terabyte size
• New and improved DOS functionality (full 64 bit support, universal notification support, automatic expunge and reload of updated disk resources)
• Improved 3D hardware-accelerated screen dragging
• Hardware compositing engine (Radeon R1xx and R2xx family)
• Implementation of the Cairo device-independent 2D rendering library
• Improved Workbench functionality
• Reworked Warp3D Radeon drivers with new functionality
• Reworked AmiDock with true transparency

In 21 June 2009 Hyperion Entertainment announced the immediate availability of a "Quick Fix" package for AmigaOne, SAM/SAM Flex and Pegasos II.^[35]

Features include:

• Improved overall system stability
• Fixed shared object handling, especially for larger applications
• Fixed Radeon Warp3D graphics drivers
• Increased performance of IDE drivers
• Fixed JXFileSystem issues with file scanning
• Fixed Sam440ep Ethernet driver to work with hubs and Envoy.

On the 14th of January 2010, Hyperion Entertainment announced the immediate availability of AmigaOS 4.1 Update 1, the first full update to AmigaOS 4.1.

Although Hyperion Entertainment does not as yet commit to any feature set for any version number, its recent public announcements have revealed a continuing process of update for the AmigaOS. Most prominent is the update release, OS4.1 Update 1. It is intended to bring AmigaOS to feature parity across all three currently supported platforms, address stability issues and introduce beginner-friendly features and defaults that can be switched off or changed if long-time Amiga users really don't like them. Screenshots of a new Installer have been released^[36] and new features including a new system notifications server will be added. Other largely cosmetic updates concern bundling 3rd party software with the OS, updating long-time Amiga utilities such as Calculator, improving the Intuition and ReAction toolkits and adding a new, scalable icon set for Workbench. ^[37]

For the future beyond this update to AmigaOS 4.1, Hyperion Entertainment will be working on improving USB support and on improving tools such as the Shell. Longer term working goals, most likely intended to be released in future 'paid-for' releases, include implementing a multi-processing solution to allow AmigaOS to make use of multi-core processors and a new graphics subsystem to overcome documented shortcomings in 3D performance.

• Amiga
• AmigaOS
• AmigaOS versions
• History of the Amiga

• Review of Micro-AmigaOne and AmigaOS 4 Developer Prerelease
• Ars Technica reviews AmigaOS 4.0
• Ars Technica reviews AmigaOS 4.1
• AmigaOS 4.1 review
• A history of the Amiga, part 1
• AmigaOS 4 Classic mini-review
• AmigaOS 4 launches after last Amiga compatible dies
• AmigaOS 4.0 - the fourth pre-release update
• Articles related to AmigaOS 4

• AmigaOS 4.0
• Amiga, Inc
• Hyperion Entertainment VOF
• Acube Systems Srl
• AmigaKit.com
• ASB Computer - Amiga Store
• AmigaOS 4 software archive