In the last post we sprung the term “version 36” on you. Naughty!
Windows users may know (if they’ve been using Windows for a while) how Windows 95 carried a version code of 4.0 while the NT line used the 4.0 number directly. All good until marketing solved that “problem” with Windows 2000. Then the infamous Windows 7 being version 6.1 and so on.
In contrast the Amiga had clear unchanging version numbers… and release version numbers… and file version numbers… yeah, OK, by the end it was getting messy…
At the core there are two types of version number on the Amiga, the “external” number and the “internal” numbers. For external numbers think 1.3, 2.04, 3.0, 3.1, 3.9. For internal numbers it can get complicated.
In early Amiga systems the version number increased and increased as work progressed. By about version 26 or 27 it was working enough for developers and certain individuals to be given “beta” copies. The first actual public release to end-users was the “1.0” release, version 30. This was very quickly surpassed by the “1.1” release, version 31.
Having got an Amiga out of the door in America the focus came to working on European releases including the UK. As PAL hardware was prepared based on the so too an OS update was made to support this region with more lines of video. Enter version 32 but still release “1.1”.
The next release “1.2” unified NTSC and PAL support in version 33. Systems below this would soon get classified as being obsolete by Commodore. This was one of the first widespread releases and a lot of software was written which made certain false assumptions the OS.
While “1.2” supported hard drives a bug (?) prevented users from booting their Amiga computers directly from the hard drive, requiring a minimal floppy disk to get running, “mount” the hard drive, and then set things up so that the hard drive LOOKED like it was the boot device. With the “1.3” release, version 34, all the “AutoConfig” was working meaning hard drive booting was available. A fair range of software that didn’t follow developer guidelines stopped working.
The first Commodore CD product, the CDTV was released with a standard Kickstart 1.3 ROM in addition to an expansion from for the additional system software required.
Whenever an update was made ALL the version numbers would be bumped. The first bump in the road was about to come partly as a result of the A2024 hi-res monitor, partly as a result of releasing some incomplete developer files to a compiler vendor.
Some software patched the system to support the special monitor and was meant to be the early “1.4” release which never fully happened. These were given a version number 35.
The next mainstream Amiga OS release revamped the entire UI and due to previous half releases the “2.0” release came out as version 36. Intended for use on the new A3000 model and not quite ready for ROM on day one Commodore returned to the “Kickstart disk” method of loading briefly.
With the 2.0 release AmigaDOS itself was almost totally re-written. In the 1.x range AmigaDOS (dos.library) was written in a language called BCPL opposed to the mix of assembly and C for the rest of the system. For compatibility reason the BCPL like interfaces (pointers being 32-bit long word resolution requiring bit-shifting in comparison to regular pointers) were maintained. Since the re-write there are portions of AmigaDOS which have not changed since 1992, so you may see version 36 in some include files and documentation. Anything not marked is usually safe to assume is available to the “1.3” (version 34) operating system.
Amiga tweaked the A500 to create the A500+ with similar chipset changes found in the A3000 (though otherwise keeping the A500 spec) and a revision to the 2.0 Kickstart called “2.04” (version 37) was released in ROM format again. A very minor external version bump “2.05” (still version 37) supported the A600 model, considered by most at the time as an inferior replacement to the A500+.
Because of the A500+ bump when Commodore release the A570 CD drive (originally planned as A690 to follow on from the A590 hard drive) an enhanced version of the CDTV expansion ROM had to be produced. In doing so Commodore was seen to look carefully at compatibility, including “kludges” to support two CDTV titles by name.
A software only update “2.1” took on version number 38, for users of version 37 ROMs.
Fast approaching the end of Commodore now, while the “2.0” look radically changed the UI giving a “dark” feel to menus as an example, the new “3.0” release supporting the new AGA (or AA if you ignore the Commodore marketing people) chipset changed the menu bars back to white, but kept the corporate grey window background. This carried the version number 39.
Like the “2.0” release a range of libraries and include files didn’t evolve beyond this version, so version 39 is another common version number to be seen.
Version 3.1 was to be the general update to 3.0, carrying version number 40. Increasing features and originally planned to support simultaneous release of the CD32 and Amiga 1200 CD add-on various changes were rushed to support the CD32 as an urgent release in the vain hope to shore up Commodore finances, but the code was still under development for a full “Workbench” release when Commodore filed for bankruptcy. It eventually came out licensed to a third party for hardware compatibility reasons and eventually the “technically unfinished” 3.1 release became a public release by virtue of the fact all development stopped.
In terms of Kickstart ROMs version 40 is the end of the line. Well… not quite…
Commodore developers chose version 42 to designate their initial work to support the first of the planned AAA based Amigas ahead of ever version 40 being finished. Presumably they predicted their work on the hardware would take long enough for the software department to polish off a couple of releases (version 40 in progress and a future version 41, allegedly a system to support the larger Japanese character sets).
Post-Commodore ESCOM worked on a prototype called “Walker” and used version 43 for the system (now available via some editions of the Amiga Forever emulation system) that would’ve been called “3.2”. Later German developers Haage & Partner was contracted to continue to develop the 3.x line of Amiga operating system on classic 680×0 hardware while Hyperion Entertainment worked on starting a 4.x line on all new PPC hardware. Working with 3.1 (version 40) as a base in ROM they first produced Amiga OS 3.5 using version number 44 for the software component and finally Amiga OS 3.9 using version number 45.
Thus when using and looking at the 3.9 version of the Amiga NDK you are most likely to see reference to v36 (2.0), v39 (3.0), v40 (3.1) or v45 (3.9).
The end… well… it was for a very long time…
The story does not actually stop there however. Hyperion Entertainment, along with a massive conflict with Cloanto went back to the 3.1 code and including work from some of the contributors to 3.5 and 3.9 created an update to 3.1 which they called 3.1.4 (later 3.1.4.1) using version number 46 for the first new Kickstart ROM in over 20 years. By some reports some of the changes date back to the final days of Commodore like the “boing ball” on the boot screen seen without any bootable disk available. This was followed up with a “3.2” using version number 47.
The end… again… but wait… Hyperion Entertainment and “4.x”???
When 3.1 (40) came out embedded in the CD32 as the final Commodore release Hyperion decided that their 4.0 system would start life as version 50. Safely away in terms of version numbers it forms a co-incidental “decade style” numbering, 30 being the first public release from Commodore, 40 being the last, 50 being the new breed of Amiga systems. The official 4.0 release carried a version number 52 and the 4.1 “final edition” carried a version number 53.
The end… really, this time… at least for now?
| Code Version | “Public” Version | Notes |
| 26 | 0.6 | Beta, (A1000) |
| 27 | 0.7 | Beta |
| 29 | 0.9 | Beta |
| 30 | 1.0 | Kickstart on floppy, NTSC only |
| 31 | 1.1 | Kickstart on floppy, NTSC only |
| 32 | 1.1 | Kickstart on floppy, PAL only |
| 33 | 1.2 | ROM/floppy, unified PAL/NTSC, (A500/A2000) |
| 34 | 1.3 | ROM/floppy |
| 35 | 1.4 / 2024 “Hi-Res” support | Beta and some software modules |
| 36 | 2.0 | ROM (floppy for early A3000) |
| 37 | 2.04/2.05 | ROM (A500+, A600) |
| 38 | 2.1 | Software only upgrade for 2.04/2.05 |
| 39 | 3.0 | ROM (A1200, A4000) |
| 40 | 3.1 | ROM (CD32) |
| 41 | ? | CBM “reserved” for Japanese support? |
| 42 | ? | CBM “reserved” for next OS inc. AAA support? |
| 43 | 3.2? | ESCOM Beta, (Walker) |
| 44 | 3.5 | Haage & Partner, software upgrade for 3.1 |
| 45 | 3.9 | Haage & Partner, software upgrade for 3.1 |
| 46 | 3.1.4 / 3.1.4.1 | Hyperion, complete release, major update of 3.1 code |
| 47 | 3.2 | Hyperion, complete release |
| 50 | 4.0 | Hyperion, CD, early public preview releases (PPC) |
| 52 | 4.0 | Hyperion, CD, public release (PPC) |
| 53 | 4.1 | Hyperion, CD, “final edition” (PPC) |