This article is about the GEOS home computer operating system. For the PC/x86 based system, see GEOS (16-bit operating system).
GEOS (Graphic Environment Operating System) is a discontinued operating system from Berkeley Softworks (later GeoWorks). Originally designed for the Commodore 64 with its version being released in 1986, enhanced versions of GEOS later became available in 1987 for the Commodore 128 and in 1988 for the Apple II series of computers. A lesser-known version was also released for the Commodore Plus/4.
GEOS
GEOS for the Commodore 64. Mimicking Commodore's own OS core naming, Berkeley called GEOS' core a "kernal" (cf. kernel).
A December 1987 survey by the Commodore-dedicated magazine Compute!'s Gazette found that nearly half of respondents used GEOS.[3]: 4 For many years, Commodore bundled GEOS with its redesigned and cost-reduced C64, the C64C. At its peak, GEOS was the third-most-popular microcomputer operating system in the world in terms of units shipped, trailing only MS-DOS and Mac OS (besides the original Commodore 64's KERNAL).[citation needed]
Other GEOS-compatible software packages were available from Berkeley Softworks or from third parties, including a reasonably sophisticated desktop publishing application called geoPublish and a spreadsheet called geoCalc. While geoPublish is not as sophisticated as Aldus Pagemaker and geoCalc not as sophisticated as Microsoft Excel, the packages provide reasonable functionality, and Berkeley Softworks founder Brian Dougherty claimed the company ran its business using its own software on Commodore 8-bit computers for several years.
Brian P. Dougherty, founder of Berkeley Softworks.
Written by a group of programmers, the GEOS Design Team:[4] Jim DeFrisco, Dave Durran, Michael Farr, Doug Fults, Chris Hawley, Clayton Jung, and Tony Requist, led by Dougherty, who cut their teeth on limited-resource video game machines such as the Atari 2600, GEOS was revered[citation needed] for what it could accomplish on machines with 64–128 kB of RAM memory and 1–2 MHz of 8-bit processing power.
Unlike many pieces of proprietary software for the C64 and C128, GEOS takes full advantage of many of the add-ons and improvements available for these systems. Commodore's 1351 mouse is supported by GEOS, as are its various RAM expansion units. GEOS 128 also fully supports the C128's 640×200 high-resolution VDC display mode through a compatible RGB monitor.
The C64 version of GEOS incorporates a built-in fast loader, called diskTurbo, that significantly increases the speed of drive access on the slow 1541. GEOS is the first Commodore software that could use a floppy disk as swap space or virtual memory.[5] GEOS 128 can take advantage of the C128's enhanced "burst mode" in conjunction with the 1571 and 1581 drives. The Commodore version of GEOS uses a copy protection scheme that renders users' disks unbootable if it detects that the disk has been illegally duplicated.[6]
Via Berkeley's special geoCable interface converter or other third-party interfaces to connect standard RS-232 or Centronics printers to the Commodore serial bus, GEOS supports a wide variety of printers, including HPPCL printers and the Apple LaserWriter. This ability to print to high-end printers was a major factor in making GEOS a desktop publishing platform.
The Apple II version of GEOS was released as freeware in August 2003. The Commodore 64/128 versions followed in February 2004.
The latest GEOS desktop suite for IBM PC compatibles is Breadbox Ensemble. Revivals were seen in the OmniGo handhelds, Brother GeoBook line of laptop-appliances, and the NewDeal Office package for PCs. Related code found its way to earlier "Zoomer" PDAs, creating an unclear lineage to Palm, Inc.'s later work. Nokia used GEOS as a base operating system for their Nokia Communicator series, before switching to EPOC (Symbian).
GEOS versions
Floppy disk containing GEOS for Commodore 64C (1986)
1986: GEOS for Commodore 64
1987: GEOS for Commodore C128, Commodore Plus/4 (unofficial)
1988: GEOS for Apple II, GEOS V2.0 for Commodore C64, GEOS V2.1 for Apple II
On August 19, 2016, Michael Steil posted in his blog[8] that the source code for GEOS 2.0 for Commodore C64 had been fully reverse-engineered and suitable for the cc65 compiler suite. The reverse-engineered source code has been made available at GitHub.[9]
GEOS products and applications
geoPaint screenshot
A HiRes graphic of Flensburg's Nordertor which was painted with geoPaint
geoWrite screenshot
Dozens of official and third-party applications and other products were produced for GEOS. Among the most important and popular were the following:
^GEOS User's Manual, Version 1.2 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Printed: October 1986, Berkeley Softworks, 2150 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California 94704
^"Reverse-Engineered GEOS 2.0 for C64 Source Code – pagetable.com".
^GitHub - mist64/geos: Source code of GEOS 2.0 for the Commodore 64 and 128
^Guerra, Bob (May 1989). "Writer 64". Compute!. p. 78. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
Further reading
Farr, Michael (15 February 1987). The Official GEOS Programmer's Reference Guide. For Commodore 64/64C/128. Includes versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2. Berkeley Softworks. Bantam Books. ISBN978-0553344042. OCLC 16684486. OL 7825792M – via Internet Archive.
Tornsdorf, Manfred; Kerkoh, Rüdiger (1 May 1988). GEOS Inside and Out: An introduction to GEOS, its applications and internals (2nd ed.). Abacus Software Inc. ISBN978-0916439811. OCLC 18446175. OL 11434890M.
External links
Breadbox Home of the GEOS operating system (down, archived at the Internet Archive)
The Commodore GEOS FAQ v1.5.0 – By Bo Zimmermann
GEOS: The Graphical Operating System A lengthy review of GEOS and its history
January 29, 2023
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This article is about the GEOS home computer operating system For the PC x86 based system see GEOS 16 bit operating system GEOS Graphic Environment Operating System is a discontinued operating system from Berkeley Softworks later GeoWorks Originally designed for the Commodore 64 with its version being released in 1986 enhanced versions of GEOS later became available in 1987 for the Commodore 128 and in 1988 for the Apple II series of computers A lesser known version was also released for the Commodore Plus 4 GEOSGEOS for the Commodore 64 Mimicking Commodore s own OS core naming Berkeley called GEOS core a kernal cf kernel DeveloperBerkeley Softworks later GeoWorks Written inAssembly languageWorking stateDiscontinued historicInitial release1986 37 years ago 1986 Latest releaseGEOS 2 0Available inEnglish German and Spanish 1 2 PlatformsCommodore 64 Commodore 128 Commodore Plus 4 Apple II MEGA65 Commander X16Defaultuser interfaceGraphical user interfaceLicenseProprietary softwareGEOS closely resembles early versions of the classic Mac OS and includes a graphical word processor geoWrite and paint program geoPaint A December 1987 survey by the Commodore dedicated magazine Compute s Gazette found that nearly half of respondents used GEOS 3 4 For many years Commodore bundled GEOS with its redesigned and cost reduced C64 the C64C At its peak GEOS was the third most popular microcomputer operating system in the world in terms of units shipped trailing only MS DOS and Mac OS besides the original Commodore 64 s KERNAL citation needed Other GEOS compatible software packages were available from Berkeley Softworks or from third parties including a reasonably sophisticated desktop publishing application called geoPublish and a spreadsheet called geoCalc While geoPublish is not as sophisticated as Aldus Pagemaker and geoCalc not as sophisticated as Microsoft Excel the packages provide reasonable functionality and Berkeley Softworks founder Brian Dougherty claimed the company ran its business using its own software on Commodore 8 bit computers for several years Contents 1 Development 1 1 GEOS versions 1 2 Reverse engineering efforts 2 GEOS products and applications 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksDevelopment Edit Brian P Dougherty founder of Berkeley Softworks Written by a group of programmers the GEOS Design Team 4 Jim DeFrisco Dave Durran Michael Farr Doug Fults Chris Hawley Clayton Jung and Tony Requist led by Dougherty who cut their teeth on limited resource video game machines such as the Atari 2600 GEOS was revered citation needed for what it could accomplish on machines with 64 128 kB of RAM memory and 1 2 MHz of 8 bit processing power Unlike many pieces of proprietary software for the C64 and C128 GEOS takes full advantage of many of the add ons and improvements available for these systems Commodore s 1351 mouse is supported by GEOS as are its various RAM expansion units GEOS 128 also fully supports the C128 s 640 200 high resolution VDC display mode through a compatible RGB monitor The C64 version of GEOS incorporates a built in fast loader called diskTurbo that significantly increases the speed of drive access on the slow 1541 GEOS is the first Commodore software that could use a floppy disk as swap space or virtual memory 5 GEOS 128 can take advantage of the C128 s enhanced burst mode in conjunction with the 1571 and 1581 drives The Commodore version of GEOS uses a copy protection scheme that renders users disks unbootable if it detects that the disk has been illegally duplicated 6 Via Berkeley s special geoCable interface converter or other third party interfaces to connect standard RS 232 or Centronics printers to the Commodore serial bus GEOS supports a wide variety of printers including HP PCL printers and the Apple LaserWriter This ability to print to high end printers was a major factor in making GEOS a desktop publishing platform The Apple II version of GEOS was released as freeware in August 2003 The Commodore 64 128 versions followed in February 2004 The latest GEOS desktop suite for IBM PC compatibles is Breadbox Ensemble Revivals were seen in the OmniGo handhelds Brother GeoBook line of laptop appliances and the NewDeal Office package for PCs Related code found its way to earlier Zoomer PDAs creating an unclear lineage to Palm Inc s later work Nokia used GEOS as a base operating system for their Nokia Communicator series before switching to EPOC Symbian GEOS versions Edit Floppy disk containing GEOS for Commodore 64C 1986 1986 GEOS for Commodore 64 1987 GEOS for Commodore C128 Commodore Plus 4 unofficial 1988 GEOS for Apple II GEOS V2 0 for Commodore C64 GEOS V2 1 for Apple II 1989 GEOS V2 0 for Commodore C128 7 2022 GEOS for Atari unofficial Reverse engineering efforts Edit On August 19 2016 Michael Steil posted in his blog 8 that the source code for GEOS 2 0 for Commodore C64 had been fully reverse engineered and suitable for the cc65 compiler suite The reverse engineered source code has been made available at GitHub 9 GEOS products and applications Edit geoPaint screenshot A HiRes graphic of Flensburg s Nordertor which was painted with geoPaint geoWrite screenshot Dozens of official and third party applications and other products were produced for GEOS Among the most important and popular were the following geoBASIC geoCable geoCalc geoChart geoDex geoDraw geoFAX geoFile geoFont geoLabel geoPaint geoPrint geoProgrammer geoPublish geoSpell geoWrite geoWrite Workshop geoRAM Writer 64 Timeworks 10 See also EditContiki PC GEOSReferences Edit GEOS en castellano GEOS Drean Commodore version 1 2 Elko Lance 1 May 1988 Editor s Notes Compute s Gazette Vol 6 no 59 ISSN 0737 3716 Retrieved 11 February 2021 via Internet Archive GEOS User s Manual Version 1 2 Archived 2015 09 23 at the Wayback Machine Printed October 1986 Berkeley Softworks 2150 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley California 94704 GEOS A Whole New World for your Commodore Info magazine Issue 14 1987 GUIdebook gt Timelines gt GEOS GeoWorks Reverse Engineered GEOS 2 0 for C64 Source Code pagetable com GitHub mist64 geos Source code of GEOS 2 0 for the Commodore 64 and 128 Guerra Bob May 1989 Writer 64 Compute p 78 Retrieved 11 November 2013 Further reading EditFarr Michael 15 February 1987 The Official GEOS Programmer s Reference Guide For Commodore 64 64C 128 Includes versions 1 0 1 1 and 1 2 Berkeley Softworks Bantam Books ISBN 978 0553344042 OCLC 16684486 OL 7825792M via Internet Archive Tornsdorf Manfred Kerkoh Rudiger 1 May 1988 GEOS Inside and Out An introduction to GEOS its applications and internals 2nd ed Abacus Software Inc ISBN 978 0916439811 OCLC 18446175 OL 11434890M External links EditBreadbox Home of the GEOS operating system down archived here at the Internet Archive The Commodore GEOS FAQ v1 5 0 By Bo Zimmermann GEOS The Graphical Operating System A lengthy review of GEOS and its history Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title GEOS 8 bit operating system amp oldid 1122491174, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
