Developer: bPlan/Genesi |
Language Used: C & gcc assembler
macros |
Project started: Early 1998 |
Hardware: Amiga PPC, Pegasos, Eclipsis |
MorphOS is an Amiga-like GUI based upon the Quark microkernel
that has gained increasing mindshare since its release in 2000. It
is the first operating system that has delivered on its promise to
provide a native Amiga-compatible PowerPC operating system. It has
been developed by a number of former-phase5 employees and was
designed to be fully compatible with existing PowerUP applications,
resulting in speculation that it is partially based upon the failed
phase5-Escom 1996 alliance that would have resulted in the
development of the Power Amiga.
Although it is still in beta, MorphOS provides limited AmigaOS
emulation through a virtual emulation and limited hardware access.
This will allow the majority of Amiga applications to be executed
without the need for custom chipsets or a physical 68k CPU. WarpOS
emulation has also been written to provide support for a large
percentage of PowerPC games. The aim is not to provide complete
compatibility with the AmigaOS, instead it will offer a means of
running API-friendly applications and games. UAE can be used for
applications or games that cannot be executed under the MorphOS
emulation.
In addition to AmigaOS compatibility, MorphOS is designed to be
forward looking in its design. This will allow it to perform
functions expected of a modern OS, such as memory protection,
symmetrical multi processing (SMP), resource tracking, Asynchronous
message system, and virtual memory (optional). While these features
are not currently implemented, the groundwork has been set to
implement them later. Given the announcements by bPlan and several
comments on the MorphOS, it is obvious that the MorphOS team intend
to port the OS to standalone PowerPC systems, such as the
Pegasos.
To read more about MorphOS, click the button below:
Additional references
MorphOS Overview (April
2000)
Ralph Schmidt responds to criticism
that MorphOS is 'stolen' AmigaOS code
Amiga
Magazin's MorphOS article (German)
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Last Update: 15/12/2002
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