As stated on their website, “AROS is a portable and free desktop operating system aiming at being compatible with AmigaOS 3.1, while improving on it in many areas.” ArosMax is a version of Aros that can be run from within a Windows environment for easy evaluation. I’ve been watching the progress of this project for the last couple of years. The impression that I’ve got is that they are not trying to create a “take over the world” OS but more of a “It would be cool if it caught on” type of project.
It is being developed by a small group of coders that work on it in their spare time. They have set up “bounties” as a cash incentive to reward people for completing certain key parts of the project. You may monitor the progress here.
There are many different ways to try out Aros. One is a Linux & FreeBSD “hosted” version (x86) that you can use. There is also a “native” version that runs on X86 machines. This version can be run from a CD or installed to a hard drive. For those of you that dont want to go through all this trouble just to try out this OS, There is an easier way: Enter Aros-Max.
Aros-max is a version of Aros that you can download and run right on your Windows PC. The download is an all in one package that runs Aros using QEMU ( an x86 emulator ). Just run the installer and it will present you with a folder called WinAROS-Max. Just double click the winaros.bat file and you are greeted with a boot menu. From this point just use the top option to boot. The Nivida option won’t do you any good since Aros is running inside an emulated environment.
After you hit “enter,” the system boots up in about 7 seconds. You are then brought into the default screen of Wanderer. This is the Aros version of the Amiga “Workbench,” which is the main work area of the OS. Anyone who has used AmigaOS should feel right at home. When you double click the Aros-max cd you are presented with a group of folders that are what you would expect from a default AmigaOS 3.1 setup.
One thing that I the noticed right away was how responsive everything was. even though it was running in an emulator, it seems very snappy. I really like the “gorilla” icons they are using. I think these were borrowed from gnome. Some people really dislike them but I think they look very cool.
I then proceeded to the “prefs” folder, this is were you can configure certain aspects of the OS. There are a couple of different items in here that were not part of the original OS 3.1 setup. One of them is the “Zune” preferences. Zune is the Aros version of the “Magic User Interface” (or MUI) which was a shareware app on the classic Amiga systems that allowed you to change the entire look of the OS.
There are also a few new things under the “tools” drawer. “pcitool” is a handy program for retrieving information about the pci hardware on your machine. there is also an Arosinstaller program that will allow you to install Aros to you hard drive. I don’t have a system to test this out on yet, so you’re on your own with this one.
The Work drawer is where you will find all the games, demos, and productivity apps. There are quite a few interesting things to try out but there aren’t a lot of apps available to get any real work done. There is no TCP stack or networking tools available so that makes it a chore to get media files to try out the multimedia programs. There are bounties assigned to fulfill these gaps, so hopefully it’s just a matter of time before these Apps are available. There are also no office-type apps available, with the exception of a basic text editor & calculator.
Conclusion
As an Amiga 3.1 replacement I think Aros has most of the pieces in place. It just doesn’t have enough applications available to be a usable OS yet. The good news is that since most people have an x86 computer lying around, Aros-max makes it very easy for anyone interested to try it out with very minimal effort. I read that there will be a OSX version coming out in the near future for the Mac folks to try out.
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About the Author:
Paul Gallant runs a video production business based in Raleigh, NC and has been using computers ever since he started programing in basic on his Atari 400. He later moved to the Amiga and eventually traded it in for the x86 world. He’s currently on a mission to make his computer world Microsoft free.
that there are not 1 but 2 TCP/IP stacks being worked on for AROS at this moment.
And the “Workbench Screen” colour bug is fixed in the latest nightly build. Just replace the ISO file with the new one and voilà. http://www.aros.org/download.php#nightly-builds
For the kind words!
AROS needs more people to help out.
Coders, Translators, Documentation Writers, Donators to bounties etc.
Please visit http://www.aros-exec.org for more info.
If they make this native version stable, I mean without crashing stable, at least often… I think I would start using it exclusively on my P3 standing in the corner. There is a need for a small multitasking OS that doesn’t need huge packages to be updated and a series of config files to be set up properly 🙂
Wow, by 2056 we may even be able to use Aros for anything else than see how uncomplete it is!!!!
Sorry, I could not resist!
AROS is a very cool OS, but the lack of apps saddens me.
“He’s currently on a mission to make his computer world Microsoft free.”
This makes it sound as if it’s a hard thing. Okay, first step: don’t run applications that run on Windows. “ArosMax is a version of Aros that can be run from within a Windows environment for easy evaluation.” See the problem there? If you run it from within a Windows environment, you are no closer to making your computer Microsoft free.
Here’s a tip for you: download the live CDs for MEPIS and Ubuntu. See if you like KDE or Gnome better, and then delete your windows partition and install which one you prefer. Your “mission” would be complete, you would have a fully functional system that is Microsoft free. Glad to help.
I recommend, for those who are intrested in this OS, to take a good look at the GUI and scheduler. It’s nice, perhaps because it’s simple. If you run several demos, they all run smoothly with each other. You can drag windows around in real time, without interrupting what’s going on on the screen (although it may slow slightly). There is no jitteryness, no jumpiness. Just smooth behavior. It feels very interactive, with events happening instantly, and gadgets updating instantly, faster than can be seen, even on slow hardware. It’s very impressive and it makes you wonder what all the complexity is for — what it actually does for you, or at least, is it worth what it costs?
For a real look, boot it from its own CD. Running in on an emulator under another OS’s scheduler will not give a realistic impression of this OS’s potential.
I also consider this OS to be useful for solving the “Amiga problem”, that is, Amiga’s future. Whether or not you trust Amiga Inc., whether or not you like Genesi, or whatever, then AmigaOS will always have a future in AROS, no matter what else happens.
Erik
Yep, and the Karate Kid will always have a future in my DVD collection. Whatever.
“Wow, by 2056 we may even be able to use Aros for anything else than see how uncomplete it is!!!!”
And maybe by 2056 you will find out that raining on other people’s parades is no life.
“Sorry, I could not resist!”
Right back at you.
> AROS is a very cool OS, but the lack of apps saddens me.
At least they are working on the os.
If you need apps, why not make them yourself!
> Wow, by 2056 we may even be able to use Aros for anything
> else than see how uncomplete it is!!!!
If think you can do better, why don’t you just make something yourself to show your superiority.
Complaining is so simple.
If you can’t show that you can do better, then you just need to shut up.
I have a lot of respect for people who are actualy trying to create what they beleive to be a good os.
I have been “playing” with Aros for some time now. I am not a dev or even close to it. I just “play” with it a lot. One thing I have found is that it is more done than it appears from Warnderer. Warnderer is not nearly finished but “under the hood” you would be surprised.. There is some work being done to add missing features to Warnderer and that I belive will start to surprise people. As some of the things that have to be done from a command line can start to be done from the Gui…
There is some “buzz” about some “basic” apps in the works for Aros. The next few months to a year should be really interesting…
Just my thoughts..
Would be great to run my old Amiga apps on cheep PC hardware. Amigaos flied on 25 mhz so think of what it can do on modern hardware or even hardware you nowdays can find on the dump!
I think the old apps need recompiling though.
No worries, there´s no plan to ever include a 86k emulator on AROS, so you won´t be able to run any old amiga software without recompiling.
Instead you should use Aros to run “UAE”.
Great achievement isn´t?
Oops I mean´t a MC680x0 emulator.
Recompiling is no problem as long as I have the right compiler and the sourches. So why use UAE for anything other than those apps that calls the amiga-specific chips directly. Whats most exiting for me however is that it might soon exist an efficient OS for my ordinary PC.
There is currently things happening in the “make 68k Amiga programs run in Aros”….so don’t say never.
There are plans (or at least some intention) to try to “intergrate” UAE with Aros as much as possiable (a complete intergratin is not practical)…making it possiable to just run native Amiga apps just like you were on an Amiga…making UAE transparent….
So, much for “…no plan to ever….”
One should make sure of ones facts before shooting off ones mouth..
Well, AmigaOS/Workbench/Intuition/AmigaDos/whatever used to run on a 7Mhz 68000. Its not particularly surprising that even running through an emulator, A similar OS is damn fast.
Last time i looked, they still hadnt sorted out the X86 installation. Any one know if there has been any movement on this? If so, will dig out an old P200 and have a play.
For compatibility with Amigo, so I consider it only a toy.