Remembering the Linux-based Commodore OS
Remembering the Linux-based Commodore OS
In 2011, Commodore USA LLC released "Commodore OS Vision" based on Linux Mint.
Back in 2010, a man named Barry S. Altman licensed the Commodore and Amiga names (from their respective rights holders), and formed a little company — in Florida — named “Commodore USA LLC”.
The goal was simple: To build personal computers using the Commodore and Amiga names… and imbued with the Commodore and Amiga spirit.
The hardware line-up consisted of small NUC-style PCs with the Amiga name… and an old-style Computer-in-a-keyboard with the Commodore name.
And, powering those machines, Commodore USA LLC created a new system which they called “Commodore OS Vision” (not to be confused with “Amiga Vision”, which is a totally different thing), usually just called “Commodore OS”.
To create “Commodore OS”, the company took an existing Linux distribution (Linux Mint… which was, in turn, based on Ubuntu), selected a set of software packages that they felt would be appealing to Amiga type users… and created “Commodore Styled” theme and artwork.
The system also included C64 emulation out of the box.
You can see the announcement trailer here:
Commodore OS leaned heavily on the best available Linux bling of the day. Lots of Compiz-enabled 3D desktop effects.
And, boy howdy, was it… blue.
Unfortunately, the founder of the company, Barry S. Altman, passed away at the end of 2012… and the company lost its leader and driving force.
Thus, Commodore OS never actually left Beta. The final version “1.0 Beta 9” was released in 2012… and, after that, the company quietly went away.
The history of Commodore USA LLC, while short, is somewhat fascinating. When the company first launched, they threatened legal action against OSNews.com for one of their articles. (Which the CEO of Commodore USA retracted and apologized for pretty quickly.)
They also had to scrap early plans to include Amiga software support (and an Amiga-like experience) using AROS (originally known as the Amiga Research Operating System) due to a licensing dispute with Bill McEwen’s Amiga Inc. (a company which I actually interviewed to work for way back in the day… but that’s a different story).
Thanks to ArchiveOS.org, .iso images for some of the Beta releases of Commodore OS are still available to download and try.
Be warned: It is definitely… very… Beta. Though still quite usable. With a very distinct look and feel.
What could have happened in the market had the founder not passed away? If Commodore USA LLC had continued to build systems and develop Commodore OS? It certainly would have been an interesting ride.
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