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OS-9 Evolution by OS-9 Al

• OS-9 Evolution - A Quick Look
• 1977 - ROM based RTOS developed in Iowa. First ad for Microware appears in Byte magazine.
• 1980 - OS-9/6809 introduced.
• 1983 - OS-9/68000 introduced.
• 1989 - OS-9 is rewritten in 'C' and ported to the 80386 processor as OS-9000.
• 1995 - OS-9000/PowerPC introduced.
• FUTURE - Support for other RISC processors.

The Color Computer crowd knows OS-9 primarily from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer port. Since the CoCo was based on a Motorola evaluation board known as a "Color Bug", and Microware was working closely with Motorola to develop a high performance operating system for the next generation 6809 chip, it seems likely that the connection between Microware and Tandy was Motorola. (Motorola, in 1995, "bought in" to Microware and owns around 11%.)

An evaluation board is an often simple "computer" designed to demonstrate the capabilities of various components. In the case of the Color Bug, it was designed to show off the 6809 processor and a VDG display chip. Various manufacturers often base their products closely to the design of such boards, which is more or less what Radio Shack chose to do. Modern day evaluation boards from Motorola include the 821ADS, which is a PowerPC based unit with LCD controller, PCMCIA slot, serial and sound/modem support, as well as IrDA support. It also has a Microware-done port of OS-9000 available, including MAUI, the Multimedia Application User Interface (graphics and sound) portion of the D.A.V.I.D. digital television package. Just think - if home computers still existed today as they did a decade ago, perhaps something like this would be the basis for the next Tandy home computer that could run OS-9? During the dawn of the 1990s, a movement towards advanced home OS-9 machines was underway. No less than three companies were attempting to create hobbyist style OS-9/68000 hardware. "Industrial" machines existed, but usually they lacked things such as printer ports and graphics support. Kenneth-Leigh Enterprises (later known as Interactive Media Systems) had Kevin Pease and others working on the MMI system. Due to a naming conflict, the system became the MM/1. This computer was based on the existing chipset used in Phillips' Compact Disc Interactive (CD-i) players..

To Be Continued...

References:

• OS-9 Technical Manual

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Site contents © 2001-2002 by Allen Huffman. OS-9 and all related trademarks belong to Microware Systems Corporation (or, I guess, RadiSys since they now own Microware). This site has no affiliation with Microware (or RadiSys). While I would like to think that every bit of information on this site is accurate, most likely there are many errors. If you need official information about anything discussed here, go to the manufacturer. I'm just an end user who enjoys the product. Peace.