@minator

Commodore called it Amiga OS officially since the 2.xx release. I bought every OS upgrade
from 2.04 to 3.5.

Before 2.xx they just talked about the OS inside the manuals, if I recall correctly. Not calling
it Amiga OS directly. But I think that's implied. What else would it be called?
Workbench is, and has always been, the way the OS is represented even back in the 1.x
days. But because of this many called the OS Workbench mistakenly.

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@Samwel

Quote:

Commodore called it Amiga OS officially since the 2.xx release. I bought every OS upgrade from 2.04 to 3.5.

I dont think so. I have not seen any AmigaOS text in original Commodore Kickstarts. Commodore used AmigaOS very rarely:

From Amiga Hard Drive User's Guide pages 3-1 and 3-2 (manual is from 1992):
Quote:

* InstallHD - transfers the Workbench and AmigaDOS files on the Amiga system software floppy disks to your newly formatted hard disk * UpdateWB - writes Workbench Release 2 software over existing AmigaOS software

That was only reference to AmigaOS I could find. But AmigaDOS was used more often:

Page 4-4:
Quote:

If you add an additional operating system to your Amiga (such as MS-DOS or UNIX), you may decide to provide it with its own partition to keep it separate from AmigaDOS.

Page 4-5:
Quote:

Reasons for partitioning include: (...) * Keeping AmigaDOS separate from a new operating system you've added (such as UNIX).

There are also lot of other AmigaDOS references. So at Commodore it was called AmigaDOS and AT dropped 'D' from the name.

It seems that at Commodore it was "officially" AmigaDOS but was not always even consistent with it. Amiga system software is also used quite often.

Oh, and it seems that it is AmigaOS, not Amiga OS.

Last edited by itix on 13-Dec-2008 at 09:41 PM.
Last edited by itix on 13-Dec-2008 at 09:38 PM.

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@Al4

Quote:

Imagine Workbench costing £80

In 1995 you could have expected to pay;

£85 for the A500/A2000 version of 3.1

£95 for the A3000/A4000 version of 3.1

@itix

Quote:

I dont think so. I have not seen any AmigaOS text in original Commodore Kickstarts.

Commodore startet calling it "Amiga OS" with version 3.1. If you're in doubt, just have a look at Commodore's 3.1 distribution:

http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/comwb3.jpg

Both the package and all of the manuals clearly say "Amiga OS 3.1".

For comparison, here's the 2.1 distribution (there never was a 3.0 distribution, obviously):

http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/amigaos21disks.jpg

Last edited by cgutjahr on 14-Dec-2008 at 01:00 AM.

@Rudei

Quote:

Anyone running OS4 reading this to confirm?

After the picture of the Boing Ball, 4.1 says Amiga Workbench, by default.

Paul

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@cgutjahr

I see. So Commodore was slowly gearing toward AmigaOS or Amiga OS naming.

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@Everblue
Quote:

Please bring Workbench back!

Why stop there when Apple routinely calls their operating system "Mac OS" when it should be have been "Finder" all along!

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@Everblue
Very good point! Perhaps Hyperion should mention "Workbench" (more prominently) in their advertising? Only problem is that (unlike the OS) Workbench has not changed much since OS2.x days, so it's kind of lacking now. (Bring back Directory Opus 5 Magellan!)

Oh, and I got a nostalgic kick out of seeing those Workbench 1.3 disks that someone posted

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This is not discussion what is AmigaOS and Workbench "by definition".

This is what people REMEMBER about Amiga... and they remember (like me :D!), that in 90's there were using Amiga + Workbench!

Why? Because the Workbech was something in a sense of ... Windows 3.1 which is interface for DOS.

This is why every body was arguing between Workbench vs. Windows 3.1. For normal user I NEVER use AmigaDOS since I could do most in Workbench, but at the time of PC's DOS was the horrible thing... and Windows was redemption from this black screens.

In my opinion Workbench should be advertise much more, sure you can put there somewhere AmigaOS (but who know what is it ;) ).

Last edited by kreciu on 14-Dec-2008 at 03:40 PM.
Last edited by kreciu on 14-Dec-2008 at 03:39 PM.
Last edited by kreciu on 14-Dec-2008 at 03:39 PM.

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@kreciu

Quote:

This is what people REMEMBER about Amiga... and they remember (like me :D!), that in 90's there were using Amiga + Workbench!

The amount of people that heard about "the Amiga" is probably a lot bigger than the amount of people that know the term "Workbench". Hence it makes sense to call it AmigaOS, no?

From a marketing point of view, "Amiga OS" makes more sense, as it clearly states that...

(a) the product in question is an operating system
(b) it's from the Amiga, that ubercool machine from the golden era of computing

If you'd be trying to sell a product called "Workbench", you'd constantly have to remind people about these two things.

@cgutjahr

But in topic is stated Amiga Workbench 4.1 :).

Quote:

(a) the product in question is an operating system (b) it's from the Amiga, that ubercool machine from the golden era of computing

Can you buy Amiga today?

Last edited by kreciu on 14-Dec-2008 at 04:12 PM.

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@ssolie

Quote:

ssolie wrote: @Everblue Quote: Please bring Workbench back! Why stop there when Apple routinely calls their operating system "Mac OS" when it should be have been "Finder" all along!

The original name of MacOS was System

System 6, System 7 etc until version 8 when it became OS 8

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@Everblue

Quote:

Everblue wrote: I have grew up knowing the Amiga's operating system as 'WORKBENCH'. What happened after WB3.1 release? The workbench name was dropped in favour of the boring 'OS' name. If I mention 'WORKBENCH' to real life friends who don't care about Amiga anymore, but used to own an A500 back in the days, they will start reminiscenting about how cool it was... Mention 'OS4' and I get blank looks. Please bring Workbench back!

Well to be pedantic, the OS was Kickstart 1.x and the desktop GUI is Workbench.
The manuals for the A500 just state "A500 User's Manual English" and the manual states on page 1-4:

"In working with the Amiga, you will often be using a software tool known as Workbench, which incorporates menus and windows and other Amiga items as well."

Workbech itself has never been referred to as the OS, and it is a common misconception by users that the "desktop" environment is the OS.

Throughout the Amiga OS development, the desktop GUI has always been referred to as Workbench, which still holds true of OS4.1.

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@ssolie

Quote:

... when it should be have been "Finder"...

What are they looking for then?

OldFart

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@Everblue

Quote:

I have grew up knowing the Amiga's operating system as 'WORKBENCH'. What happened after WB3.1 release? The workbench name was dropped in favour of the boring 'OS' name. If I mention 'WORKBENCH' to real life friends who don't care about Amiga anymore, but used to own an A500 back in the days, they will start reminiscenting about how cool it was... Mention 'OS4' and I get blank looks. Please bring Workbench back!

I think that he is talking about a perception of people of the Workbench as a AmigaOS, regardless of this what definition states.

People, are buying product, they use it. AmigaOS without Workbench would be another DOS on PC... nothing else.

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@kreciu

Quote:

AmigaOS without Workbench would be another DOS on PC... nothing else.

You're really underestimating AmigaOS if you think so. Workbench is a small part of the OS (the desktop), and nowadays it's really outdated too. It's the part needing the most to be improved (especially regarding filemanagement).
On amigaos 3.x, I got rid of Workbench as soon as i could, to use magellan as a WB replacement, which performs way better in about any situation.

@kreciu

Quote:

People, are buying product, they use it. AmigaOS without Workbench would be another DOS on PC... nothing else.

That is not true because Workbench is not what contains all the graphics functions (compared to Windows 3.1 + DOS). The graphics functions are already present in the ROM chip or kickstart and Workbench is not needed by an application to be able to open a screen or window on the Amiga.

Workbench is actually not normally used by applications at all, with the exception of app icons.

@all

About calling the OS Workbench may be because only the Workbench files could be copied and loaded and "seen" and "touched" while the actual kernel of the OS (exec, dos, graphics, intuition) were stored in the kickstart ROM and was hidden and fixed.

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@cgutjahr

Quote:

For comparison, here's the 2.1 distribution (there never was a 3.0 distribution, obviously):

I beg to differ (he says looking at his Workbench 3.0 manual).

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@Fab

Please go back to 1987-1996 and rethink what did you wrote. At this time there was nothing like that. I think Opus Magellan was developed like 1996-7?

So, again without Workbench there would not be any competition to Windows 3.1 which was release about 1992.

Workbench was a competition no a Magellan, ScalOS etc. Sure there was AmigaDOS doing whole job but...

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I change my mind. Now when I know AmigaOS4.1 is legal... :D. Thank you Hyperion!

Quote:

kreciu wrote: So, again without Workbench there would not be any competition to Windows 3.1 which was release about 1992.

By your own logic, shouldn't you be calling it Explorer 3.1 ?

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