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I would like to know which original Operating Systems that run on retrocomputers are still being actively maintained and updated. This only applies to retrocomputer OS's that may still be used on original hardware.

  • Assuming the OS vendor has long-since dropped support, the updates would have to come from some community project which continues to develop the OS by adding modular enhancements, or by reverse-engineering the OS and releasing an enhanced version.
  • Modern replacements for the original OS that are in no way compatible should not be included.
  • Updates should be able to run on the original retrocomputer hardware without need for modern hardware or emulators.
  • Updated ROMs are Ok, since this may be the pathway to update the OS.
Brian H
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    This probably shouldn't have hardware tags... but I'm not certain what it should have instead. I'll remove them whilst replacements are being found. – wizzwizz4 Mar 01 '17 at 17:10
  • I thought list-based questions were a no-no. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good question. – cbmeeks Mar 01 '17 at 20:46
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    This is a list question, which sounds like it would be a good candidate for being community wiki. There would be one answer which anyone could edit to add additional information. – JAL Mar 02 '17 at 00:39
  • VMS is still developed. – Martin Schröder Mar 02 '17 at 16:05
  • @MartinSchröder Cool. Can you link to a recent release that runs on retro/old DEC branded hardware? Like a MicroVAX Model I/II? – Brian H Mar 02 '17 at 18:20
  • The last update I have for old VAXen was released in 2012. – Stephen Kitt Mar 03 '17 at 12:46

1 Answers1

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My previous research into retrocomputer OS updates has led me to the following list. For each retrocomputer OS, the date and version of the latest update released at time of posting is included. The link for farther information about the update is also included.

ProDOS 8 for Apple II, originally released Jan 1983

GS/OS for AppleIIGS, originally released Sep 1988

OS-9 for Tandy CoCo, originally released 1979

AmigaOS for Amiga, originally released Jul 1985

TOS for Atari ST, originally released Jun 1985

Atari DOS for Atari 8-bit, originally released Sep 1979

RISC OS for RiscPC, originally released Jun 1987

OZ for Cambridge Computers Z88, originally released 1987

MSX-DOS 2 for MSX, originally released 1988

OS/2 for IBM PC, originally released Apr 1987

MINIX for IBM PC, originally released 1987

  • MINIX 3 is still currently maintained as of 2019. It requires an i586 CPU, which is closer to original than modern hardware is.

Linux for IBM PC, originally released Aug 1991

BeOS for IBM PC, originally released Oct 1995

Sinclair QL (and compatibles) SMSQ/E, originally released as Qdos 1984.

GEOS for C64/C128 and Apple II, originally released Jun 1986

PC/GEOS for PC clones, originally released in 1990

Digital Alpha machines

They don't have any paying customers with pre-Alpha machines.

MenuetOS, originally released May 2000

Oric-1 / Oric Atmos

Sedoric has been maintained and improved :

Multics, first deployed in 1969

Multics 12.7 is now (2021-02) getting ready for release, a follow-on to Multics 12.6 which was released in 2017. It would surely run on the original hardware if you have a 6180 in your garage. Lacking that, it does run on an emulator ...

tofro
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Brian H
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    I believe RISC OS is relatively alive. https://www.riscosopen.org/content/ – Muzer Mar 01 '17 at 17:06
  • @Muzer Iirc it was still being developed by the original developers as of 2001. – wizzwizz4 Mar 01 '17 at 17:12
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    Definitely a possibility to include. I don't know much about the Archimedes and haven't seen definitive evidence that the latest RISC OS can still be run on them. Are they mostly focused on RPi? – Brian H Mar 01 '17 at 17:15
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    Current releases of RISC OS are still available for RiscPCs, without needing any expansion (it's available on ROM chips which replace the original chips, or as a softload variant which can be loaded from disk). I listed the very first release of RISC OS, for older systems than RiscPCs. – Stephen Kitt Mar 01 '17 at 19:57
  • There are recent (this century) patches for DEC's OS/8 (~1972) that allow Y2K-ish date handling and making console output lower case. Don't know when they were done, but they were supplied with the SBC6120 kit – scruss Mar 13 '17 at 22:32
  • I am not sure that Linux or a derivate of it should be on the list (I'm much more sure on the opposite) – tofro Mar 27 '17 at 22:25
  • @tofro ELKS is a still maintained version of the Linux OS for x86 that users ran on their 1990 PC compatibles, right? And it will most likely compile and/or run the same software used on a 1991 Linux PC. What disqualifies it, specifically? – Brian H Mar 28 '17 at 03:41
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    Linux is still around - So any derivate of it can hardly be considered retro. And ELKS is a real-mode Linux, so it isn't even the "original" 1990 version, but much newer. – tofro Mar 28 '17 at 06:39
  • For OS/2 you possibly should include ArcaOS. – Anixx Jun 28 '18 at 14:00
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    Standard, full-fat Linux will still run on an i486DX, which was available at the time of Linux' original release. Apparently only very minor patches (to GCC) are needed to get a modern distro like Gentoo to run. So I've added Linux to the list. I also added MINIX, since the i586 CPUs needed to run the latest version were available before Win95, which is also in the list. – Chromatix Aug 17 '19 at 21:38
  • Well I didn't know ProDOS was still being maintained. That's awesome. – LawrenceC Aug 18 '19 at 15:16
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    NextorOS for MSX systems is updated to v2.1.0b2 (Mar 2019) and the code released by the author @Konamiman at: https://github.com/Konamiman/Nextor – NataliaPC Oct 01 '19 at 13:29
  • I took up Alpha but: i beginning to think that the Itanium processor especially the early ones with their Alpha and Precision instruction architecture and so different personality is food for thought. Though Itanium machines were never "cheap" – Stefan Skoglund Apr 19 '20 at 19:38
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    FreeDOS is a clone, not the original. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Aug 31 '20 at 13:38
  • ReactOS needs to come off this list - it is not Windows 95. – Alan B Feb 24 '21 at 16:35
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    Haiku is a clone, not the original – Omar and Lorraine May 03 '21 at 08:24
  • Related meta discussion: https://retrocomputing.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/433/. So far, it has not been acted upon. – user3840170 May 07 '21 at 13:43