C64 OS has one goal.
Make a Commodore 64 feel fast and useful in today’s modern world.

It's a very high bar. The C64 was introduced in 1982 and has an 8-bit, 1MHz, 6510 CPU with just 64 kilobytes of directly addressable memory. It has a screen resolution of 320x200 pixels, and a fixed palette of 16 colors. But, it is an incredibly versatile machine. And it enjoys an active userbase and a great variety of modern hardware expansions.

The C64 has had many operating systems written for it. So, do you need another?

Some of these projects were designed to be experimental, or to demonstrate a point, rather than to solve a problem or to make using the C64 better. Others had good intentions but pushed the machine in ways it wasn't designed for, compromising on speed and usability in the pursuit of features available on more powerful computers. C64 OS works with the limitations of the Commodore 64 and embraces them. It gives your computer an all new set of sophisticated tools that empower you to be productive and your C64 to be useful.



 

WELCOME

C64OS.com is the official website of C64 OS, a new operating system expansion for your Commodore 64 that gives it a whole new set of sophisticated tools with a powerful and unified user interface. C64 OS gives you a featureful File Manager, that lets you copy and move whole directory trees between any two places on any two devices. A tabbed interface lets you be in up to 4 places at the same time. The favorites, recents, path bar, and menu bar, access with a mouse or keyboard shortcuts lets you whizz around your C64's drives at record speed.

The App Launcher gives you multiple desktops, each of which you can customize with a different backdrop, hint color, and color coded aliases to C64 OS Apps, C64 OS Utililities and to original C64 games and programs.

C64 OS comes bundled with over 25 useful Utilities that can be opened and used concurrently with a C64 OS application, including: A calculator, a calendar, a timer and stopwatch, a text viewer, a memory inspector and much more.

C64 OS File Manager with open Utilities Utility. C64 OS App Launcher with open Memory Utility. The File Manager and the Calculator, in the Daylight color theme.

C64 OS version 1.0 is now available.

Learn More Order C64 OS

Purchase a copy of C64 OS, install on any number of Commodore computers and emulators, for your personal use and enjoyment.


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.

Subscribe to C64OS.com with your favorite RSS Reader

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: NOW READY TO ORDER!

The wait is over. C64 OS v1.0 is now available for order.

C64 OS version 1.0 comes with a professionally printed User's Guide, a promotional sticker, and a custom labeled System Card (SD Card) with a complete system pre-installed and ready to boot up. The System Card includes an OS archive and installation tools which can be used to install C64 OS on a different C64 mass storage device.

C64 OS v1.0 includes system-level files, plus, File Manager, App Launcher and 4 other Applications, over 25 Utilities, including Calculator, Time, Today, Settings, File Info, and Open and Save dialogs. This system includes 12 hardware drivers, over 15 shared libraries, 24 Toolkit Classes, and 14 data type loaders. As a bonus, the standard System Card also comes with a CMD HD hard drive image pre-installed with C64 OS for use in the latest versions of VICE, as well as sample MText files, graphics files, and SID music.

Updates and expansion Apps and Utilities will be available from c64os.com, to add to and expand the capabilities of the base C64 OS v1.0 system.

Learn more about C64 OS ⇒

C64 OS Printed User's Manual, Bootable Volume on SD Card, and Stickers. New, with updates to version 1.03.

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 ⇒