(First, this is not directly a MorphOS related post, I actually meant to post this at Amiga.org, but it seems eliyahu has banned me for no apparent reason, so I'll post it here instead (in the "General Discussion" forum))

---

The recent news on Amiga-News.de about Cloanto made me think a bit. I recall I read somewhere/sometime at the Cloanto website where they pointed out that historically (up to a certain point in time of course), nobody really spoke about “Amiga OS”. And when I think of it, it strikes me that this is actually true!

Back in the days, you mostly spoke of “Amiga” strictly from a hardware context. Like “I have an Amiga 500” and “Commodore has now released the Amiga 1200”, etc. It was the *machine* that was the point, the center of everyone’s attention. The “OS” simply came with that hardware, it was updated mostly when new hardware was released in order to enable the new hardware features, and it was never really anyone’s focus. If anything, you would refer to “Kickstart” versions and “Workbench” versions, and mostly in cases when (for example) wondering if you could make your Amiga 500 run programs that required stuff from later Workbench versions from newer Amiga models. “Yes you can run Workbench 3.1 on an Amiga 500, but you will also need to upgrade the Kickstart ROM in order to do so”.

Workbench!



AFAIK the term “Amiga OS” was introduced at the latest possible point in the original Amiga’s history. Just before Commodore died they had finished the Kickstart /Workbench version 3.1, and even managed to get an adapted version of it on the market with the CD32 before going bankrupt. After the bankruptcy was a fact and Commodore was in liquidation, a limited batch of “informal”/“pirate copies” (I have seen it been called both) of the OS was distributed and sold (Village Tronic) which I believe at least had a cardboard box with the text “Amiga OS” printed on it. And when Escom/Amiga Technologies picked up the Amiga IP and produced new batches of the A1200 and the A4000T computers they made “Amiga OS 3.1” the new standard OS version, and also released official upgrade packs for older Amigas. I suppose going for the “Amiga OS” naming scheme was originally a pedagogical move to try to mentally lift the Operating System part of the Amiga equation away from the hardware, to formalize it as a concept of its own (Kickstart and Workbench together) when evaluating various paths to a future (not all of them involved “custom HW”, hence a shifted focus to the OS part). And of course it was also essential to formalize, structure and slice up all kinds of Intellectual Property that could have any value, something that got increasingly important over the years as “Amiga” became prey for a growing number of “IP vultures” standing in line; complex yet obsolete custom HW was not very interesting IP-wise, but trademarks was, and so could the Operating System be.

A long time has now passed, but the “Amiga OS 3.1” API is the common denominator of all the various OS initiatives that followed since then, be them 68k “upgrades” like “OS 3.5/3.9” put together by some third party publisher by bundling some of the many SW packages that Amigans commonly used to modernize their computers, or be them new OS initiatives written from scratch like AROS and MorphOS, or the OS4 “based on the real sources” of course.

And regarding the naming; as far as I recall it was quite common that people continued calling the OS “Workbench” even a long time after the “Amiga OS” name was introduced, the “Workbench” was heavily established in people’s minds at the time and the new name took some time to gain full impact! Today things have shifted to the other side though, and it’s quite common that people say things like “Amiga OS 1.3” (or simply OS 1.3) instead of Workbench 1.3. In the same mindset, it’s common to look at “OS4” not as a "NG"/PPC fork but as a later version of “Amiga OS” since it has a higher version number (and based on 3.1 IP) and because “Amiga OS 3.1” is something dead, something of the past.

Or was, at least. Because then Cloanto walks in through the door!

In November 2014 they re-release the “Workbench” as a real, alive and available product, and suddenly there are no longer only three “Amiga OS 3.1”-alike Operating Systems, but four! The *actual* Workbench returned, and not as a package for emulation, but in the shape of real disks made for real Amiga computers!


(Click the image for big picture)

And not only did they re-release the old Commodore WB 3.1 package straight off, they also upgraded it slightly! They say the release is “trying to be as true to the original as possible without compromising functionality”, and while this is probably true, the new Workbench package also implements the following changes and new features:

• * Updated C/Version command (Y2K patch)


• * Addition of Libs/workbench.library (for A-4000T 3.1 ROMs and 3.X ROMs)


• * Updated S/Startup-Sequence (conditional SetPatch, for 3.X ROMs)


• * Increased MultiView stack to 32768


• * Installer script improvements


• * Updated Installer (43.3 or 44.10, depending on CPU) and FastFileSystem 45.9 (to support larger disks)


• * Installer itself is now part of the system installation (inside the Utilities directory)

These updates/additions are not totally insignificant IMHO, especially not so if you also add a “3.X” ROM file (supported but not included) which together with the included updates will add run-time support for disks larger than 4 GB! This is not minor at all IMHO! Anyway, it’s not a straight-off re-release of Workbench 3.1, it’s updated, hence its version number should (IMHO) differ from the original, and this is why I called it “3.2” in the picture above (which again is not official, but perhaps should be?).

Anyway, some interesting things about this:

1. 1) Cloanto now *owns* the Amiga Operating System (not a license to use, but full ownership!), everything that Commodore/Amiga owned and developed up to (and including) version 3.1.


2. 2) “The combination of the multiple agreements makes Cloanto the rights holder of not just any Amiga related products and media, but also the system software, documentation, Commodore-owned publications, videos and advertisements for Commodore's various product lines.” So also developer documentation like the RKRM books, etc.


3. 3) That a new version of the Amiga Operating System “Workbench 3.1” has been released and is for sale! A stand-alone release of the OS, completely independent of any “emulation packages”.


4. 4) Even the post-Commodore 3.1 updates that Olaf Barthel and Heinz Wrobel developed (and released on Amiga’s website during the latter half of the nineties) are available from Cloanto’s Website.


5. 5) The official name of this OS was, and is de-facto now again (per the latest Nov 2014 release), Workbench (*NOT* “Amiga OS”). This trademark is fully owned by Cloanto, the owners of the OS. As I tried to illustrate in the picture above, the current “new” Workbench 3.1 release (available to buy now in 2015) is a direct descendant product of the Workbench 1.0 of 1985. Workbench is 30 years old this year and “still” available as a product to buy!


6. 6) Beyond the original Workbench releases that were originally supplied with various Amiga’s from Commodore, Cloanto’s great emulation package “Amiga Forever” also comes with a pre-installed state of the art version 45.3 Workbench system. In other words, it’s de-facto “Amiga OS 3.9” (but also here they carefully avoid the name “Amiga OS”, and they call it “Workbench 3.X” instead), and not only does this come with the latest version 44/45 files, it also has some later ROM and operating system patches and files, as well as some other Cloanto IP bundled. In other words, a product further improved!


7. 7) I suppose many people sees the “x” in the version number “3.X” as some kind of replaceable variable (like in equations) that could mean “anything”. But given the fact that they use a *capital* letter also brings your thoughts to the roman number “10”. In other words: Workbench 3.10! Which makes sense, since it de-facto builds on 3.9 in all essential aspects, and then offers *more* on top of that!


8. 8) So far, this “Workbench 3.10” is only distributed with the Amiga Forever emulation package. Maybe a stand-alone release has just not yet happened but is planned to come in the future? Maybe they can’t do it because of license restrictions of some of the “3.5/3.9” components (like only having a license to distribute them with the Amiga Forever emulation package but not as a stand-alone OS release). But the new Workbench “3.2” disks that are now for sale, contains everything you need (new FastFileSystem, etc, etc) to boot up and prepare/set up your Real Amiga with bigger HDD support and making it usable with the 3.10 ROM and prepare the ground so to say before you manually transfer the rest from the Amiga Forever package to your Real Amiga, in order to have a full blown Workbench “3.10” system running on your Amiga!

Are there any other implications of this?

Well, Cloanto’s legal rights to all aspects of the great “Amiga Forever” package are secured and undisputable. All relevant Intellectual Property is gathered under the same roof. Safe. Peace. Tranquility. And this at a company that isn’t just “a file in cabinet that’s in coma” like some other Amiga related companies are, but has been quite active and still is.

It opens up for a whole new set of business opportunities for Cloanto in licensing old vintage games and releasing complete gaming emulation packages for all kinds of platforms. Recently someone asked if a site like this is legal. Probably not, but Cloanto can actually do this legally, and they are probably the only one who can! Virtually no work, potentially quite a bit of money!

And it potentially opens up for further Workbench development post Workbench 3.X. Like Workbench 3.XI perhaps?

Who knows, maybe we will even see some official, physical “3.10” ROM chips for real Amigas, to go with the new Workbench?

It could also mean (if Cloanto agrees to this) that any past, present or potential future Retro HW/HW Emulation projects (like Jens Schönfeld’s “Clone A”, the MiniMig, NatAmi, etc, etc) can have a legal Workbench distribution to go with them. “Amiga in a Joystick” anyone? It could also mean that any new/improved features (like “Super AGA” or whatever) in potential new hobby machines like the NatAmi could have real support from a bundled Workbench that’s both complete and perfectly legal. In other words, new WB versions with new native features for new HW!

I’m actually a little surprised that nobody really picked up on this Amiga-News.de article about Cloanto is now owning the OS (and has been for a while), that there were no big discussion about it!

In my eyes this is huge for anyone interested in Real Amigas, for retro, for emulation, and potentially for new FPGA based “Amiga” machines that could possibly introduce new custom chipsets with new features. Or for anyone that has been dreaming about further development of Workbench for Amiga!

Workbench for the Future?