MorphOS

Short description: Amiga-compatible computer operating system

MorphOS

MorphOS logo

Developer| The MorphOS Development Team
Written in| C, C++, Objective-C++, Pascal, Python, Perl, Amiga E, Ruby, Lua
OS family| AmigaOS-like
Working state| Current
Source model| Closed source (with open source[1] components)
Initial release| 0.1 / August 1, 2000; 23 years ago (2000-08-01)
|Final release|Latest release}}| 3.18 / May 13, 2023; 9 months ago (2023-05-13)
Available in| 19 languages
Platforms| Pegasos, some models of Amiga, Efika, Mac Mini G4, eMac, Power Mac G4, PowerBook G4, iBook G4, Power Mac G5, SAM 460, AmigaOne X5000
Kernel type| Micro/pico[2]
Default user interface| Ambient
License| Proprietary with GNU GPL Ambient user interface
Official website| www.morphos-team.net

MorphOS is an AmigaOS-like computer operating system (OS). It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC (PPC) 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 Power Mac G4 models are respectively supported. The release of MorphOS 3.2 added limited support for Power Mac G5. The core, based on the Quark microkernel, is proprietary, although several libraries and other parts are open source, such as the Ambient desktop.

## Contents

* 1 Characteristics and versions
* 2 Components
* 2.1 ABox
* 2.2 Other
* 3 MorphOS software
* 3.1 Bundled applications
* 4 Supported hardware
* 4.1 Amiga
* 4.2 Apple
* 4.3 Genesi/bPlan GmbH
* 4.4 ACube
* 4.5 A-Eon Technology
* 5 History
* 5.1 Release history of 0.x/1.x series
* 5.2 Release history of 2.x/3.x series
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Characteristics and versions

Developed for PowerPC CPUs from Freescale and IBM, it also supports the original AmigaOS Motorola 68000 series (68k, 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 the Magic User Interface (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, as is registration. If unregistered, it slows down after each two-hour session. PowerUP MorphOS was most recently updated on 23 February 2006; however, it does not exceed the feature set or advancement of the Pegasos release.[3][4]

A version of MorphOS for the Efika, a very small mainboard based on the ultra-low-power MPC5200B processor from Freescale, has been shown at exhibitions and user gatherings in Germany .[5] Current (since 2.0) release of MorphOS supports the Efika.

## Components

System architecture

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 – the default MorphOS desktop, inspired by Workbench and Directory Opus 5
* CyberGraphX – graphics interface originally developed for Amiga computers: 5.1
* Magic User Interface – primary graphical user interface (GUI) toolkit: 4.2
* Poseidon – the Amiga USB stack developed by Chris Hodges
* TurboPrint – the printing system
* TinyGL – OpenGL implementation and Warp3D compatibility is featured via Rendering Acceleration Virtual Engine (RAVE) low-level API: V 51
* Quark – manages the low level systems and hosts the A/Box currently

## MorphOS software

MorphOS can run any system friendly Amiga software written for 68k processors. Also it is possible to use 68k libraries or datatypes on PPC applications and vice versa. It also provides compatibility layer for PowerUP and WarpUP software written for PowerUP accelerator cards. The largest repository is Aminet with over 75,000 packages online with packages from all Amiga flavors including music, sound, and artwork. MorphOS-only software repositories are hosted at MorphOS software, MorphOS files and MorphOS Storage.

### Bundled applications

Main page: Software:List of MorphOS bundled applications

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

## Supported hardware

* Max. 1.72 GB RAM; virtual memory is not supported.
* Only Radeon cards have support; Nvidia cards are not supported.

### Amiga

* Amiga 1200 with Blizzard PPC accelerator card
* Amiga 3000 with CyberStorm PPC accelerator card
* Amiga 4000 with CyberStorm PPC accelerator card

### Apple

* Mac mini G4
* eMac
* Power Mac G4
* PowerBook G4 (except for 12" aluminum models)
* iBook G4
* Power Mac G5
* Power Mac G4 Cube[6]
* iMac G5 (only model A1145 – G5 2.1 20" (iSight))

### Genesi/bPlan GmbH

* Efika 5200B
* Pegasos I G3, II G3/G4

### ACube

* ACube Systems Srl company and their Sam460 series mainboards

### A-Eon Technology

* AmigaOne X5000 mainboard

## History

Amiga family development tree

The project began in 1999, based on the Quark microkernel.[7] The earliest versions of MorphOS ran only via PPC accelerator cards on the Amiga computers, and required portions of AmigaOS to fully function.[8] 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.[9][10] Thendic-France had financial problems and folded; however, the collaboration continued under the new banner of "Genesi".[11][12] A busy promotional year followed in 2003, with appearances at conventions and exhibitions in several places around the world, including the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.[13]

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,[14] the Ambient desktop interface was released under GPL[15] 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.[16]

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 3.11 is commercially available at a price of €79 per machine (€49 for the Efika PPC or Sam460 boards). A fully functional demo of MorphOS is available, but without a keyfile, its speed is decreased significantly after 30 minutes of use per session; rebooting the system allows for another 30 minutes of use.

### Release history of 0.x/1.x series

Version  | Release date  | Notes

|
|

0.1  | August 1, 2000  | Amiga
0.2  | October 17, 2000  | Amiga
0.4  | February 14, 2001  | 3rd Release[17]
0.5  | May 1, 2001  | Amiga
0.8  | August 2001  | Amiga, Pegasos I
0.9  | 2002  | beta[18]
1.0  | 14 October 2002  | Pegasos I
1.1  | December 13, 2002  | Pegasos I
1.2  | February 9, 2003  | Pegasos I
1.3  | March 27, 2003  | Pegasos I
1.4  | August 7, 2003  | Pegasos I
1.4.4  | March 28, 2005  | Pegasos I/II
1.4.5  | April 30, 2005  | Pegasos I/II
1.4.5  | August 25, 2005  | Amiga[19]

### Release history of 2.x/3.x series

Version  | Release date  | Notes

|
|

2.0  | June 30, 2008  | Added support for Efika 5200B platform; 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[20]
2.1  | September 6, 2008  | Support for the Efika's audio[21]
2.2  | December 20, 2008  | TrueCrypt-compatible disk encryption suite[22]
2.3  | August 6, 2009  | Origyn Web Browser as the default browser, read only HFS+ file system support[23]
2.4  | October 12, 2009  | Added support for Mac mini G4; write support for Mac HFS disks, new charsets.library to provide better multilingual application support[24]
2.5  | June 4, 2010  | Added support for eMac G4; drivers for SiI3x1x based 2-port Serial ATA PCI cards[25]
2.6  | October 10, 2010  | Added support for Power Mac G4; 2D drivers for Rage 128 Pro graphics cards; Released at precisely 10.10.10 10:10[26]
2.7  | December 2, 2010  | Improving support for Power Mac G4 platforms[27]
3.0  | June 8, 2012  | Added support for PowerBook G4; performance improvements[28]
3.1  | July 8, 2012  | Bug-fix release[29]
3.2  | May 27, 2013  | Added support for further PowerBook G4 models, iBook G4 and Power Mac G5 model A1047; 3D drivers for Radeon R300 based cards, wireless networking via Atheros chipset, major overhaul of TCP/IP stack ("NetStack") – improving networking performance[30]
3.3  | September 18, 2013  | Fixes support for some iBook G4 models[31]
3.4  | December 14, 2013  | Improved R300 3D and G5 video playback performance, support for non-native display resolutions on various PowerBook models[32]
3.5  | February 15, 2014  | Support for PowerMac7,2 Power Mac G5 models[33]
3.6  | June 27, 2014  | Broadcom Wi-Fi support, AMD R400 support, SMBFS file system, VNC server and a Synergy client[34]
3.7  | August 3, 2014  | Bug-fix release[35]
3.8  | May 15, 2015  | Support for Sam 460 series of mainboards; basic drivers for Radeon HD series graphics cards, 4K displays in native resolution[36]
3.9  | June 19, 2015  | Bug-fix release[37]
3.10  | March 25, 2018  | Extended hardware support (AmigaOne X5000 mainboard; new SATA controllers, network controllers, scanners and graphics cards), Flow Studio IDE with built-in debugger, support for time zones, new fonts, new themes, vector graphics, including SVG icons, overall bug fixes and performance improvements[38]
3.11  | July 6, 2018  | Bug-fix release[39]
3.12  | October 2, 2019  | Dual monitor support for select hardware, improved thermal management for select hardware, new FireWire stack, support for more printers and scanners, upgraded Odyssey browser with HTTP/2 and TLS 1.3 and spell checking support, substantial upgrades and new features to Flow Studio IDE, UTF-8 support in MUI, ObjFW runtime with Automatic Reference Counting[40]
3.13  | February 7, 2020  | Bug-fix release[41]
3.14  | October 4, 2020  | Kernel improvements for threading, improved TCP/IP network stack threading support, improved unix emulation layer, Magic User Interface improvements, improved ObjectiveC framework, improved translations for various languages, updated open source components for various libraries and classes, numerous bug fixes. Introduces ScoutNG system monitoring application[42]
3.15  | December 31, 2020  | Bug-fix release[43]
3.16  | March 9, 2022  | Added notification system and email client, replaced Odyssey web browser with Wayfarer web browser, added new application switcher. Improvements for Synergy client, added shared openSSL 3 library. Includes hundreds of bug fixes[44]
3.17  | May 1, 2022  | Bug-fix release[45]
3.18  | May 13, 2023  | New features: Scriptable Hex/RAM/Disk editor, ArchiveIt archiver/unarchiver application, better cooling information display via Thermals application, Samba2/3 support, including integration with Ambient desktop. Extensive improvements to Radeon drivers and improvements to Realtek 8168 driver support. Issues in USB support for CyrusPlus 5040 systems has been corrected. Many system components and libraries have been bugfixed and improved, including MUI, Netstack and Filesysbox.[46]

MorphOS 2 includes a native TCP/IP stack ("Netstack") and a Web browser, Sputnik or Origyn Web Browser.[47] Sputnik was begun under a user community bounty system[48] that also resulted in MOSNet, a free, separate TCP/IP stack for MorphOS 1 users. Sputnik is a port of the KHTML rendering engine, on which WebKit is also based. Sputnik is no longer being developed and was removed from later MorphOS 2 releases.

## See also

* Ambient (desktop environment)
* Amiga
* APUS (computer)
* AROS Research Operating System (AROS)
* Magic User Interface (MUI)

## References

1. ↑ "MorphOS - Source Code Releases". https://morphos-team.net/sources.
2. ↑ "Basic Kernel Information". MorphOS Home Page. http://www.morphos.org/kernelinfo.php3.
3. ↑ Piru (February 23, 2006). "Announcements: Updated MorphOS for PowerUP Users". Amiga.org. http://www.amiga.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6671.
4. ↑ Holwerda, Thom (August 24, 2005). "MorphOS 1.4.5 Released for Classic Amiga". OSNews. http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=11668.
5. ↑ Holwerda, Thom (October 17, 2006). "MorphOS 1.5 Running on Efika to Be Shown". OSNews. http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=16209.
6. ↑ Frank Mariak (December 25, 2013). "MorphOS on Apple G4 Cube?". http://www.morphzone.info/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=11&topic_id=6835&post_id=107647&showonepost=1.
7. ↑ "Nový projekt OS: MorphOS" (in cs). Amiga Review (Atlantida Publishing) (52): 7. January 2000. ISSN 1211-1465.
8. ↑ "MorphOS? What's that, then?". Amiga Active (Pinprint Publishing) (10): 14–17. July 2000. ISSN 1467-3533.
9. ↑ Schröder, Carsten (July 2002). "Pegasos-Verfügbarkeit steht möglicherweise kurz bevor" (in de). Amiga Future (APC&TCP) (37): 4–5.
10. ↑ Dvorak, John C. (2004-04-06). "Inside Track". PC Magazine (Ziff Davis) 23 (6): 53. ISSN 0888-8507.
11. ↑ "MorphOS Update & Pegasos". Total Amiga (South Essex Amiga Link) (14): 8. Spring 2003. http://www.totalamiga.org/pdf/totalamiga_14.pdf.
12. ↑ "bplan and Thendic merge to GENESI (update)". Amiga-News.de. November 22, 2002. http://www.amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2002-11-00192-EN.html.
13. ↑ "Weitere Bilder von der CES 2003" (in de). Amiga-News.de. February 4, 2003. http://www.amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2003-02-00028-DE.html.
14. ↑ "Unklarheiten bezüglich der Veröffentlichung von MorphOS 1.5 für den Pegasos" (in de). Amiga-News.de. November 15, 2004. http://www.amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2004-11-00063-DE.html.
15. ↑ "Ambient source code under GPL released". Amiga-News.de. January 22, 2005. http://www.amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2005-01-00122-EN.html.
16. ↑ Haynes, Chris (March 21, 2007). "Scalos: The Amiga Desktop Replacement". http://scalos.noname.fr/.
17. ↑ "New MorphOS 0.4 Release". February 15, 2001. http://www.ann.lu/detail.cgi?category=news&file=0982207755.msg. Alt URL
18. ↑ MorphOS 0.9 video
19. ↑ "MorphOS Change Log". June 6, 2006. http://powerup.morphos-team.net/changelog.html.
20. ↑ MorphOS 2.0 release notes
21. ↑ MorphOS 2.1 release notes
22. ↑ MorphOS 2.2 release notes
23. ↑ MorphOS 2.3 release notes
24. ↑ MorphOS 2.4 release notes
25. ↑ MorphOS 2.5 release notes
26. ↑ MorphOS 2.6 release notes
27. ↑ MorphOS 2.7 release notes
28. ↑ MorphOS 3.0 release notes
29. ↑ MorphOS 3.1 release notes
30. ↑ MorphOS 3.2 release notes
31. ↑ MorphOS 3.3 release notes
32. ↑ MorphOS 3.4 release notes
33. ↑ MorphOS 3.5 release notes
34. ↑ MorphOS 3.6 release notes
35. ↑ MorphOS 3.7 release notes
36. ↑ MorphOS 3.8 release notes
37. ↑ MorphOS 3.9 release notes
38. ↑ MorphOS 3.10 release notes
39. ↑ MorphOS 3.11 release notes
40. ↑ MorphOS 3.12 release notes
41. ↑ MorphOS 3.13 release notes
42. ↑ MorphOS 3.14 release notes
43. ↑ MorphOS 3.15 release notes
44. ↑ MorphOS 3.16 release notes
45. ↑ MorphOS 3.17 release notes
46. ↑ MorphOS 3.18 release notes
47. ↑ "MorphOS 2.0". http://www.amigamccc.org/journal/0809eric.htm.
48. ↑ "Morph Bounties". MorphZone. http://www.morphzone.org/modules/bounty/.

## External links

* Aminet Amiga/MorphOS software repository
* MorphZone, Supported Computers
* MorphOS Software Database
* MorphOS software repository
* MorphOS: The Lightning OS
* Obligement – Magazine about AmigaOS and MorphOS
* www.warmup-asso.org – Portal dedicated to MorphOS users
* MorphOS Storage – MorphOS Software Storage

* v
* t
* e

MorphOS

Hardware|

* A1200
* A3000
* A3000T
* A3000UX
* A4000
* A4000T
* Efika
* Pegasos
* Mac Mini
* eMac
* Power Mac G4
* PowerBook G4
* iBook G4
* Power Mac G5

Components|

* AHI
* Ambient
* AmigaDOS
* CyberGraphX
* MUI
* PowerUP
* RAM disk
* TurboPrint
* WarpOS
* more...

File systems|

* FAT
* OFS
* FFS
* EXT2
* HFS
* NTFS
* PFS
* SFS

Software|

* Blender
* Cubic IDE
* Hollywood
* NetSurf
* Origyn Web Browser
* YAM
* more...

Games|

* Aquaria
* The Battle for Wesnoth
* Knights and Merchants
* OpenTTD
* Robin Hood
* Quake III
* Stratagus
* more...

* v
* t
* e

AmigaOS

Amiga technologies|

* AmigaBASIC
* AmigaDOS
* AmigaGuide
* ARexx
* Blitter object
* Exec/WarpOS
* Guru Meditation
* Hunk
* Installer
* Intuition
* Kickstart
* RAM disk
* Workbench
* XAD

Amiga GUIs|

* Ambient
* MUI
* ReAction
* Scalos
* Workbench
* Zune

File systems|

* CrossDOS
* OFS
* FFS
* PFS
* SFS
* UDF
* FAT
* NTFS

OS versions|

* AmigaOS version history
* AmigaOS 4

Software packs|

* Amiga Forever
* AmiKit

Other software|

* Aminet
* Amiga Reflections
* Demos
* Games
* Hollywood
* ADF
* IFF
* LHA
* WHDLoad
* WinUAE
* YAM
* AmiZilla

Influenced|

* AROS
* AtheOS
* BeOS
* DragonFly BSD
* MorphOS
* Syllable

Category

* v
* t
* e

Microkernels-nanokernels

Kernels|

* ADEOS
* EPOC
* EKA1
* EKA2
* Eumel
* Exec
* ExecSG
* EROS
* K42
* L3
* L4
* Little Kernel
* Mac OS nanokernel
* Mach
* GNU Mach
* MicroEmpix
* µ-velOSity
* nucleus
* NuKernel
* Off++
* Opus
* PowerUP
* Quark
* TI-RTOS kernel
* Vanguard
* WarpOS
* Zircon

Operating
systems|

* AmigaOS
* Amoeba
* AROS
* AspireOS
* Broadway
* Icaros Desktop
* ARX
* BeRTOS
* ChibiOS/RT
* ChorusOS
* Copland
* Cosmos
* EROS
* FreeRTOS
* Fuchsia
* Genode
* GNOSIS
* GNU Hurd
* HelenOS
* Hydra
* Integrity
* JX
* JavaOS
* KeyKOS
* Lites
* Classic Mac OS (PowerPC kernel)
* MachTen
* MacMach
* MeikOS
* MERT
* µC/OS
* Midori
* MINIX
* Minix-vmd
* MINIX 3
* MkLinux
* MorphOS
* MQX
* NLTSS
* Nucleus RTOS
* NuttX
* OS2000
* OSE
* Phantom OS
* PikeOS
* QNX
* RC 4000
* Redox
* REX OS
* RIOT
* SharpOS
* Singularity
* SPIN
* Spring
* Symbian
* Taligent OS
* ThreadX
* TI-RTOS
* Tinix
* UNICOS
* V
* Verve
* VRTX
* VSTa
* Wombat OS
* Workplace OS
* Zephyr

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