MorphOS
MorphOS is a mixed
proprietary and
open source operating system produced for the
PegasosPPC hardware platform by a core development team and contributors. The OS itself is proprietary. Several libraries and other parts are open source, such as Ambient (the desktop interface).
It currently runs only on
PowerPC processors by
Freescale and
IBM while still supporting the original
AmigaOS MC680x0 applications via its proprietary task-based emulation solution and most of the newer, PPC/AmigaOS applications using API wrappers. It is
API-compatible with AmigaOS 3.1 but implements many enhancements that bring it up to date, and a modern
GUI based on
MUI.
Besides the Pegasos version of MorphOS, there is also a "PowerUP" version for
Amigas equipped with PPC accelerator cards produced by
Phase5. This version is free, although it does slow down after each two hour session if you have not registered it. 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. [
1][
2]
Two key deficiencies of MorphOS are the absences of a built-in native TCP/IP stack and a web-browser with modern capabilities. The user community is attempting to remedy this through the use of bounties [
3] that have so far resulted in a functional, available, but unfinished version of MOSNet, and an unreleased port-in-progress of KHTML browser, based on
GTK+WebCore.
The project started in 1999, and it is based on the
Quark microkernel. After some bitter disagreements within the MorphOS development team in 2003 and 2004, the
Ambient desktop system was released under GPL and is now actively developed by the MorphOS community. Two alternative MorphOS desktop systems are
Nemesis [
4] and
Scalos. [
5] MorphOS is currently under development, with the latest Pegasos user release being 1.4.5 (
30 April 2005). There is a user community that supports the OS as well as a number of developers.
MorphOS components:
*
Ambient desktop—the default MorphOS desktop, inspired by others like
Workbench and
Directory Opus*
Cybergraphics—RTG system
*
TinyGL—
OpenGL clone + Warp3D emulation (
RAVE low-level API)
*
MagicUserInterface—primary
GUI toolkit
*
Trance JIT—
JIT code translator for
68k applications
*
QBox—manages the low level systems
*
ABox—a PPC
AmigaOS API clone that is binary compatible with both 68k (with JIT emulation) and PPC Classic Amiga programs (similar, and based in part, to
AROS)
*
The MorphOS Homepage*
The Outdated MorphOS Homepage*
MorphOS for PowerUP*
MorphOS Developer Connection*
Old Ambient Homepage by Zapek (original author)*
New Ambient Homepage*
fork of Ambient at sf.net*
Marian Guc's Homepage (Nemesis Desktop)*
Morphzone*
MorphOS News*
Zapek's Allegations of Unsettled Debts to Developers*
Obligement - magazine about AmigaOS and MorphOS*
WikiPeg - Wiki about the Pegasos and MorphOS*
The Pegasos book - Free ebook about the Pegasos PowerPC and MorphOS*
UtilityBase - Development site for Amiga, MorphOS, AROS
