WELCOME
C64OS.com has grown from its original purpose as an outlet for me to blog about
my adventures in learning to code in 6502 and my progress towards the development of
a simple, single–tasking, event–driven operating system. It is growing into a resource
for new and returning users of the Commodore 64 and 128 to find out about all the
great new things being developed both in hardware and software.
NEWS, EDITORIALS, REFERENCE
In the weblog, you'll find posts that cover news, editorial reviews, programming
reference documents, technical deep dives into software and hardware, plus thoughts
and progress updates on the development of C64 OS.
Over time my posts have gotten longer and more detailed. These in–depth posts take
time research, write and edit. I have been keeping to steady pace of at least one
such post a month. It is difficult to get regular readers if new content is not
showing up more frequently. To help cope with this, the weblog also has an RSS
feed. Subscribe to it, and you'll get new posts in your feed reader as soon as
they're published. Or follow me on
Twitter, where I announce each new post.
Recent Posts
Read the weblog now ⇒
COMMODORE 8 BIT BUYER'S GUIDE
Commodore hardware is great. The architecture has proven to be very well designed
as is still usable and expandable decades later. But in order to take advantage
of that architecture design, you need to actually expand it by building or
purchasing expansion hardware.
Commodore 8-bit computers have had lots of third–party supporting hardware. And
while much of it is no longer commercially available, there are hundreds of modern
projects and expansion options that are available and under development today.
When I returned from my hiatus, I was amazed by the rich support the C64 still has,
from hardware, software and publications. However, I learned about these things
in dribs and drabs by haunting IRC channels, message boards and following C64 fans
on Twitter.
The Commodore 8 Bit Buyer's Guide is a graphical catalog of all the hardware
products, projects and kits I know of that are commercially available today.
Product feature pages show high–res photos, link to the homepage, documentation
and supporting software, include a mini review and product description and list
prices and instructions on how you can buy the product for yourself.
Quick Links
View the Buyer's Guide now ⇒
C64 OS TECHNICAL DOCS
The site is named for this main and overarching project, C64 OS, which I began
developing in the fall of 2016. Its goal is to be simple and streamlined and to
work with the hardware limitations. I want to make an authentic C64 OS, rather than
trying to ape the behavior of other OS platforms. C64 OS exists to provide
consistency and usability advantages for the user, and a more modern development
platform for the programmer.
Features
- Event–driven interaction model
- Advanced mouse and keyboard event system
- Hybrid memory manager
- String, Math and File Libraries
- Text screen compositor
- Graphical split screen mode
- Object–oriented widget toolkit
- System–wide pull down menus
- Standardized open and save file dialogs
- Universal cut, copy and paste
- Application launcher and file manager
Learn more about C64 OS ⇒
C64 LUGGABLE PROJECT
In 2000 I acquired my first SX-64 Executive Computer. A luggable C64 with a
built in 5" display, 1541 floppy drive and a unified power supply. All with a
handle on the top. I heavily modified mine to include a SuperCPU, IDE64, CD-Rom
drive, Ethernet adapter and High Speed RS232, all powered by a lightweight AT Power
Supply.
But the SX-64 was built for a different time. Its display is a massive CRT block,
1–foot deep. The rest of the internal layout is modeled around this main feature.
C64 Luggable is a project to build an all–in–one C64, oriented vertically rather
than horizontally. It has a large 15" LCD display and foregoes old tech like a
floppy drive, in favor of SD card and USB–based storage. Ethernet is a standard.
And so are its front–mounted 4–player controller inputs, and rear–mounted PS/2
mouse and keyboard ports.
I love my Commodore computers and how expandable they are, but they have a tendency
to take up a whole desk with sprawling peripherals and multiple power supplies.
This is fun its own way, but it makes them inconvenient to take with you. C64
Luggable is a practical project for me, and a reference design for other people to
be creatively inspired. It allows me to bring a C64 with me to my friends' houses,
to remove the friction of getting them to be able to enjoy C64 demos and
multi–player games with me. C64 Luggable helps me share the love of the C64 more
easily and with more people.
Learn more about C64 Luggable ⇒
SUPPORT MY WORK
Dear Commodore 64 enthusiast,
I'm working hard on C64 OS, and I'm building it for you and for the Commodore
community. Its combination of a zippy and consistent user interface, essential
programming frameworks, and a suite of online proxy services, will give you a new
way to enjoy your Commodore 64.
The C64OS.com weblog brings you quality reading material, programming and hardware
reference, technical deep dives, product and event reviews, and updates on my
progress.
The Buyer's Guide is the best way for you to find out about new and existing,
commercially available, products, projects and kits for all Commodore 8-Bit
computers. With large clear photos, detailed writeups, and standardized information
on price and compatibility, links to documentation, third–party reviews, and
specific instructions on how to buy, the Buyer's Guide is becoming the resource
of choice for discovering what you want to get next and how to get it.
But, you guessed it. Providing you with all of this great content takes time,
effort and money. The good news is that you can help out! You can make a real
difference, and support the future of these great initiatives with a helpful
contribution.
The easiest way to support my work is to purchase one of the items I am offering.
I am currently selling beautiful, high quality, Commodore logo patches. These
are available now in the Help Support Me
section of the Commodore 8–Bit Buyer's Guide. You'll get a cool logo patch and
I'll get a bit of funding to help offset the costs. If you don't want one of the
products I'm offering through the site, you can always make a donation, just buy
me a cup of coffee. (And, I'm now accepting Bitcoin.)
Thank you so much, for your generous support

Greg Naçu — C64OS.com
Want to support my work?
1 Versa64Cart + 1 EPROM: $20 USD
+ $7.50 Shipping/Handling
OUT OF STOCK!!
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1 Patch: $5 USD
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3 Patches: $12 USD
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Buy a Versa64Cart or a Commodore Logo Patch, or
Make a donation, as little as a cup of coffee.
There is another way you can help me out,
You can use this referral link.
C64OS.com is hosted on a Digital Ocean droplet.
Digital Ocean is a cloud hosting platform, built for developers. They make it simple
to get started. They have intuitive administrative tools and reasonable prices. And
they can scale as your needs grow.
If you sign up with this referral link, you'll get a $100 credit, and after you've
spent $25, I'll get $25. If you are looking for a cloud platform to host your website
or web app, this is win–win.
Sign up for Digital Ocean with this refereral link.
Save money and help C64OS.com at the same time.
Want to support my hard work? Here's how!
To all my supporters:
With Special Thanks to
- Alex Brem
- Louis Giglio
- Saveen Sadanand
For repeated and generous support and encouragement.
Most recent contributors:
- Dennis Costa
- Brian Marstella
- K Michael Cullen
- Louis Giglio
Earlier contributors:
- Piotr Andrzejczak
- Paul Beel
- Aaron Bell
- Stéphane Blanchonnet
- Jan Blomqvist
- Leif Bloomquist
- Alex Brem
- Joe Carter
- Nelson Chamberlain
- Deanne Christoph
- CodeSecurity
- Fabian Danders
- John DiLiberto
- Steve Dowden
- Jeremy English
- Mitchell Farley
- Roy Fielding
- Scott Finney
- David Gershman
- Sarmad Gilani
- Carl Gonsalves
- Laurence Gonsalves
- Richard Good
- Robert Grasböck
- Steve Haak
- James Happel
- Tim Harris
- Eric Hill
- Marcus Honey
- Immicro
- Employing Innovation
- Josh Johnson
- Addy van Ladesteijn
- Philipp Lehmann
- Brad Marshall
- Sascha Mathejczyk
- Jason McEachin
- Tristan Miller
- Ronald Morrissette
- Laszlo Nagy
- Bernd Neikes
- Christopher Nelson
- Jessie Oberreuter
- Jonas Olsson
- Nicholas Otz
- Themis Papassilekas
- Rayner Pedersen
- Bryan Pope
- Glen Rapoza
- Alan Reed
- MindFlare Retro
- Joel Ricci
- Saveen Sadanand
- Carlos Perez Saldana
- Paul Schimmelpfenning
- David Semke
- Northwoods Computer Services
- Keith Shirley
- Josef Souçek
- Jochen Spang
- Lars-Erik Stenholm
- Daniel Stephens
- Martin Studer
- Kent Sullivan
- Markos Themelidis
- Klaus Timmermann
- James Trevizo
- Tomasz Tybulewicz
- Jakob Voos
- Peter Walsh
- Matthew Walworth
- Jimmy Wilson
- David Youd
- Marko Šolajić
✶ Names in bold are multiple contributors. Extra thanks!