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MorphOS

MorphOS
MorphOS logo
Company / developerThe MorphOS Development Team
Programmed inC
OS familyAmigaOS-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelClosed source with open source Ambient desktop
Initial release0.1 / August 1, 2000; 12 years ago (2000-08-01)
Latest stable release3.1 / July 8, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-07-08)
Available language(s)19
Available programming languages(s)C, C++, Pascal, Python, Perl, Amiga E, Ruby, Lua
Supported platformsPegasos, some models of Amiga, EFIKA, Mac Mini G4, eMac, Power Mac G4, PowerBook G4
Kernel typeMicro/pico[1]
Default user interfaceAmbient
LicenseProprietary with GNU GPL Ambient user interface
Official websitewww.morphos-team.net

MorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the EFIKA and mobileGT. Since MorphOS 2.4, Apple's Mac Mini G4 is supported as well, and with the release of MorphOS 2.5 and MorphOS 2.6 the eMac and PowerMac G4 models are respectively supported. The core, based on the Quark microkernel, is proprietary, although several libraries and other parts are open source, such as Ambient desktop.

Contents

Characteristics and versions

Developed for PowerPC processors from Freescale and IBM while supporting the original AmigaOS MC680x0 applications via proprietary task-based emulation, and most AmigaOS/PPC applications via API wrappers. It is API compatible with AmigaOS 3.1 and has a GUI based on MUI.

Besides the Pegasos version of MorphOS, there is a version for Amiga computers equipped with PowerUP accelerator cards produced by Phase5. This version is free, although it does slow down after each two hour session if it has not been registered. Registration is free. PowerUP MorphOS was most recently updated on 23 February 2006; however, it does not exceed the feature set or advancement of the Pegasos release.[2][3]

A version of MorphOS for the EFIKA, a very small mainboard based on the ultra-low wattage MPC5200B processor from Freescale, has been shown at exhibitions and user-gatherings in Germany.[4] Current (since 2.0) release of MorphOS supports the EFIKA.

Components

Screenshot of Ambient Desktop on MorphOS.

ABox

ABox is an emulation sandbox featuring a PPC native AmigaOS API clone that is binary compatible with both 68k Amiga applications and both PowerUP and WarpOS formats of Amiga PPC executables. ABox is based in part on AROS Research Operating System. ABox includes Trance JIT code translator for 68k native Amiga applications.

Other

  • AHI — audio interface: 6.7
  • Ambient desktop — the default MorphOS desktop, inspired by Workbench and Directory Opus 1.43
  • CyberGraphX — graphics interface originally developed for Amiga computers: 5.1
  • Magic User Interface—primary GUI toolkit: 4.0
  • Poseidon (USB stack)— the Amiga USB stack developed by Chris Hodges
  • TurboPrint— the printing system
  • TinyGL—OpenGL implementation and Warp3D compatibility is featured via RAVE low-level API: V 51
  • Quark—manages the low level systems

Amiga3dapi.svg

MorphOS software

MorphOS can run any system friendly Amiga software written for 68k processors. It also provides compatibility layer for PowerUP and WarpUP software written for PowerUP accelerator cards. The largest repository is Aminet with over 75000 packages online with packages from all Amiga flavours including music, sound and artwork. MorphOS only software repositories are hosted at MorphOS software and MorphOS files.

Bundled applications

Main article: List of MorphOS bundled applications

MorphOS is delivered with a number of desktop applications in the form of pre-installed software.

Supported hardware

  • max. 1.5 GB RAM

Amiga

  • Amiga 1200 with Blizzard PPC accelerator card
  • Amiga 3000 with CyberStorm PPC accelerator card
  • Amiga 4000 with CyberStormPPC accelerator card

Apple

  • Mac mini G4
  • eMac
  • Power Mac G4
  • PowerBook G4

Genesi/bPlan GmbH

  • EFIKA
  • Pegasos I G3
  • Pegasos II G3/G4

ACube Systems Srl

History

Amiga family development tree.

The project started in 1999, based on the Quark microkernel. The earliest versions of MorphOS ran only via PPC accelerator cards on the Amiga computers, and required portions of AmigaOS to fully function. A collaborative effort between the companies bPlan (of which the lead MorphOS developer is a partner) and Thendic-France in 2002 resulted in the first regular, non-prototype production of bPlan-engineered Pegasos computers capable of running MorphOS or Linux. A busy promotional year followed in 2003, with appearances at conventions and exhibitions in several places around the world, including CES in Las Vegas. Thendic-France had financial problems and folded; however, the collaboration continued under the new banner of "Genesi".

After some bitter disagreements within the MorphOS development team in 2003 and 2004 culminating with accusations by a MorphOS developer that he and others had not been paid, the Ambient desktop interface was released under GPL and is now actively developed by the Ambient development team. Subject to GPL rules, Ambient continues to be included in the commercial MorphOS product. An alternative MorphOS desktop system is Scalos.[5]

On April 1, 2008 the MorphOS team announced that MorphOS 2.0 would be released within Q2/2008. This promise was only kept by a few seconds, with the release of MorphOS 2.0 occurring on June 30, 2008 23:59 CET. MorphOS 2 is commercially available at a price of 150 EUR per machine (111,11 EUR as a special promotion within the first two weeks of its release). A fully functional demo of MorphOS is available, but without a keyfile, its speed is decreased significantly after 30 minutes of use.

Release history of 2.x/3.x series

VersionRelease DateInformationNotes
2.0June 30, 2008MorphOS 2.0 release notesAdded support for Efika 5200B platform
2.1September 6, 2008MorphOS 2.1 release notes 
2.2December 20, 2008MorphOS 2.2 release notes 
2.3August 6, 2009MorphOS 2.3 release notes 
2.4October 12, 2009MorphOS 2.4 release notesAdded support for Mac mini G4
2.5June 4, 2010MorphOS 2.5 release notesAdded support for eMac G4
2.6October 10, 2010MorphOS 2.6 release notesAdded support for Power Mac G4
2.7December 2, 2010MorphOS 2.7 release notes 
3.0June 8, 2012MorphOS 3.0 release notesAdded support for PowerBook G4
3.1July 8, 2012MorphOS 3.1 release notes 

MorphOS 2 includes a native TCP/IP stack ("Netstack") and a web browser, Sputnik or Origyn Web Browser.[6] Sputnik was begun under a user community bounty system [7] that also resulted in MOSNet, a free, separate TCP/IP stack for MorphOS 1 users. Sputnik is a port of the KHTML rendering engine, which WebKit is also based on. Sputnik is no longer developed and was removed from later MorphOS 2 releases. All TCP/IP stacks

Version 2.0

MorphOS 2.0 was released on June 30, 2008. The new version included (along other improvements) the previously missing native TCP/IP stack, an updated Sputnik release, AltiVec support, alpha compositing 3D layers for the graphical user interface, new USB components (including USB 2.0 support), new screenblankers, and Reggae, a new, modular, streaming multimedia framework. MorphOS 2.0 also included support for the EFIKA, Pegasos I and Pegasos II machines.

Version 2.1

On September 5, 2008 MorphOS 2.1 was released, fixing numerous bugs and adding support for the EFIKA's audio.

Version 2.2

On December 20, 2008 MorphOS 2.2 was released, fixing numerous bugs, adding a TrueCrypt-compatible disk encryption suite and several small items.

Version 2.3

On August 6, 2009 MorphOS 2.3 was released, fixing numerous bugs, adding Origyn Web Browser as the default browser, read only HFS+ filesystem support and several small items.

Version 2.4

On October 12, 2009 MorphOS 2.4 was released, adding support for Mac Mini G4 platform, as well as fixing various bugs and adding new features. Write support for Mac HFS disks were added and new charsets.library was included to provide better multilingual application support.

Version 2.5

On June 4, 2010 MorphOS 2.5 was released, adding support for eMac G4 platforms and drivers for SiI3x1x based 2-port Serial ATA PCI cards.

Version 2.6

On October 10, 2010 MorphOS 2.6 was released, adding support for Power Mac G4 platforms and 2D drivers for Rage 128 Pro graphics cards., Released at precisely 10.10.10 10:10

Version 2.7

On December 2, 2010 MorphOS 2.7 was released, improving support for Power Mac G4 platforms and fixing various bugs.

Version 3.0

On June 8, 2012 MorphOS 3.0 was released, introducing support for PowerBook G4, including several performance improvements and new features and fixing various bugs.

Version 3.1

On July 8, 2012 MorphOS 3.1 was released. MorphOS 3.1 is a bug fix release.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Basic Kernel Information". MorphOS Home Page. http://www.morphos.org/kernelinfo.php 3. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  2. ^ Piru (February 23, 2006). "Announcements : Updated MorphOS for PowerUP Users". Amiga.org. Archived from the original on 2007-03-14. http://web.archive.org/web/2007031401 0244/http://www.amiga.org/modules/new s/article.php?storyid=6671. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  3. ^ Thom Holwerda (August 24, 2005). "MorphOS 1.4.5 Released for Classic Amiga". OSNews. http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_ id=11668. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  4. ^ Thom Holwerda (October 17, 2006). "MorphOS 1.5 Running on EFIKA to Be Shown". OSNews. http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_ id=16209. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  5. ^ Chris Haynes (March 21, 2007). "Scalos - The Amiga Desktop Replacement". http://scalos.noname.fr. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  6. ^ "MorphOS 2.0". http://www.amigamccc.org/journal/0809 eric.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  7. ^ "Morph Bounties". MorphZone. Archived from the original on 2007-03-06. http://web.archive.org/web/2007030615 0915/http://www.morphzone.org/modules /bounty/. Retrieved 2007-03-12.

External links

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