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From: rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard)
Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga,net.micro.6809,net.micro.68k
Subject: Re: Info on OS9 Operating System
Message-ID: <272@ccivax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Sep-85 00:02:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: ccivax.272
Posted: Fri Sep 20 00:02:10 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Sep-85 12:22:34 EDT
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> In response to the request for general info on OS9 ... a MC68xxx O/S ...
> A brief discussion of OS-9:
> 
> o  Authored by Microware Systems Corp, Des Moines, Iowa 
> o  It's about 5 years old, starting out as a spin-off from a contract
>    between Microware and Motorola. Mot. was looking for a super-BASIC
>    and an O/S to exploit the superb architecture of the MC6809.
> o  OS-9 exists in three flavors:
> 	- Level I for 8-bit sytems using 64K on CPUs having a 6809
> 	- Level II, same but has bank-switching for up to 1MB on 6809s
> 	- Level I for 680x0 machines with large memories (>=256K?)

 
> Tandy sells it for their ($300) Color Computer ... it's a real
			    ^^^^ the computer, not OS-9
> paradox in that (diminishing) market. Look for its manuals at your
> nearby Tandy computer center.
 


> The trouble (with OS9 for the 68000)  is that it's not available on
> a popular computer so there's never been any good non-system softare
> so there's never been any users --- etc, etc, catch-22.

Neither was CP/M 68K (re: TOS) until about two weeks ago.
Intuition is a real commonly used OS around here?
(I guess MS-DOS was a household word before the PC!!!)

> I considered going to OS9/68K until I spent a weekend with an AT&T
> UNIX-PC. For < $5,000, that machine, with its bit-mapped graphics & Sys 5.2
		  ^^^^^
> just beats the heck out of any other high-end machine for the serious
> hobbiest.

	$5000 for a hobby machine?!!!  (Wouldn't you rather have a buick?)

> So in SUMMARY I'll editorialize:
> 
> 	OS9-6809 is the best small-computer O/S I've seen but
> 	it has never gained popularity to attract software houses.

There is an awfull lot of "basic-09" and OS-9 code on radio-shack bulletin
boards, much of it source.  Since CoCo owners tend to get no software
support from RS, OS-9 is the only way to get much of anything for it.
(See earlier article about buying ROM to Throw it away (AMIGA DOS NOT IN ROM??))
I even remember seeing one called GKS.OS9 or something like that.
This is one of the few systems where you can sell a LIBRARY!

There is also some "C" stuff.  Porting would involve expanding screen
widths (CoCo uses 256x190 graphics or 32x16 text), or you could put them
in windows.  OS-9 uses a library of graphics commands similar to
extended BASIC (GWBASIC to IBM'ers), which can be used from C or BASIC-09.

Since I haven't got a GEM guide handy, maybe someone will tell me if
there is something BASIC can do that GEM can't?  I would guess that
GEM could be called instead of a run-time library.  If GEM can do more,
great!!