Closed and open, side by side.
An Amiga today still leans on closed parts at every layer: the ROM, the OS, the graphics drivers, the compilers and the hardware. Here is each one next to the open part we are writing to replace it, from the 68k to PowerPC and RISC-V, with an honest word on where each stands.
Everything we write for the platform is MIT licensed, so anyone can use it, change it and ship it. Closed doesn't mean bad: AmigaOS 3.2 and 4.1 are the work of people who kept the Amiga alive, and you can keep using your own copies with AmigaChrome. Open means nobody ever has to ask permission to build an Amiga again.
The ROM and the OS.
The biggest job, and the one furthest along. The counts come from our own audit of all 300 parts of AmigaOS 3.2; A free Amiga OS has the full list.
| Closed today | Our open part | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Kickstart 3.2.3 ROM | Open ROM | Partial An all-open ROM boots to a Shell in our lab. Not ready to ship yet. |
| exec.library | Open exec | Done Boots, and passes its own 31 checks. |
| The other ROM modules: dos, graphics, intuition and more | OpenBench libraries | Partial Of 41 ROM modules, 19 done and 18 partly done. |
| AmigaOS 3.2 libraries, devices, commands and Prefs | OpenBench and OpenUp | Partial Of 300 parts, 102 done and 64 partly done. |
| The Workbench desktop | OpenBench desktop | Partial Runs on RTG screens. workbench.library and icon.library still hand over to OS 3.2's own for now. |
| GlowIcons | OpenUp icons, our own set in the Gorilla style | Partial The art is drawn; it is being turned into icons. |
| ReAction classes | OpenReaction | Partial 38 classes written, not yet tested on an Amiga. |
| MUI | Our own MUI-compatible library | Early Being written now. It replaces the AROS Zune that OpenUp's early previews carried. |
| 68040.library | Open68040 | Done Written; still to be tested on a real 68040. |
| 68060.library, mmu.library | Nothing yet | Gap Not started. |
| ARexx | Nothing yet | Gap Scripts still run in OS 3.2's interpreter. |
| Directory Opus and other file managers | OpenFiles | Done In OpenUp since 0.6.4. |
| AmigaOS 4.1 | None. Bring your own copy | Yours AC460 runs your own licensed OS 4.1. |
Graphics, sound and more cores.
| Closed today | Our open part | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Picasso96 and CyberGraphX | OpenRTG | Built 8, 16 and 32-bit screens without Picasso96. Ships in OpenUp. |
| Warp3D | OpenGPU | Built The library exists; nothing calls it yet. |
| audio.device | OpenAudio device | Partial Not ready for the ROM yet. |
| Extra CPU cards and their software | OpenMulticore | Built Spreads work over more cores, through its own library. |
For developers.
An open platform has to be buildable with open tools. Our GCC 16.2 port is done; a free set of headers is the next big piece.
| Closed today | Our open part | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| The official developer headers (NDK) | Open SDK | Early Every module except exec still needs the official headers to build. |
| SAS/C and older compilers | OpenAmigaGCC 16.2 | Done Released 12 October. GPLv3, as GCC is: a tool you build with, never part of the platform. |
| A Kickstart ROM to start any emulator | Cradle, with AROS's open ROM today | Built Our Open ROM replaces it once it ships. |
The hardware, 68k to RISC-V.
Our hardware is open designs that run today as emulated boards and cores, on a PC, a Raspberry Pi or in Cradle. None of it is a physical board yet. Why our CPU is a 68040 tells the AC090's story.
| Closed today | Our open part | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Motorola 68040 and 68060, CPU accelerators | AC090 CPU | Done Our own core: interpreter and x86-64 JIT done, ARM64 JIT built. Software, not a chip. |
| The AGA chipset and A1200 motherboard | A1200 board | Partial AGA display done, the blitter partly done, Gayle's IDE not yet. |
| RTG graphics cards | ACRTG card | Done A Picasso96-style card of our own, in the emulated board. |
| Sam460 and AmigaOne PowerPC boards | AC460 board and PPC460 core | Built The OS 4.1 install CD boots, and OS 4.1 has reached Workbench. |
| Proprietary accelerator and expansion hardware | A RISC-V daughtercard on our proposed AC-EDGE-1 connector | Concept A design proposal: no pinout, nothing manufactured. |
What stays yours to bring.
- AmigaOS 3.2.3 and its Kickstart, until the Open ROM and OpenBench can stand alone
- AmigaOS 4.1 and its updates, for the AC460
- Software you already own, such as MUI or your favourite games: ours sits alongside it, not in its way
- Most of our OS code is being prepared for public release
- A free set of developer headers, so nobody needs the official NDK to build
- ARexx, the 68060 and MMU libraries, and the rest of the disk set
- Our own icons and MUI-compatible library in OpenUp, in place of AROS's