About AmigaOS AmigaOS is a lightweight, compact, pre-emptive multitasking operating system which has evolved into a very stable and compelling system over the last 20 years. History has benefited the AmigaOS with a unique middle-ground position that gives it extraordinary scalability and grants it many of the advantages traditionally associated with embedded Operating Systems as well the flexibility and feature-rich environment of a desktop OS. The last version released is AmigaOS4, which is written and maintained by Hyperion.

• Quick on / instant off
  • Very fast booting. About 10-15 seconds from a cold start.
  • No need to wait before shuting the system down. Just hit the power button.
• 680x0 JIT emulation and Interpreted machine code emulation.
  • Fully integrated 68k emulator
  • High compatibility
• Improved memory handling
  • Memory stab allocating system.
  • Virtual memory address space.
  • Memory protection.
• Datatypes
  • Used to handle all kinds of fileformats this allows applications to support new filetypes written by third party datatype developers automatically.
  • Several programs can make use of the same set of datatypes
• Menu systems
  • Menu bar at the top of the screen allows easy access to OS functions.
  • Dockable menus allow easy access to your most commonly used programs.
• Window stacking
  • Allows you to arrange the windows in any order you like.
• Screens
  • You can use several screens at ones to make more space for applications.
  • Screens can be dragged off in any direction
  • You can drag drop files between screens and windows.
• 3D Graphics Acceleration
  • The Warp3D API has provided a basis for new 3D games to be developed for the Amiga platform. Many titles has been ported from other systems.
  • MiniGL has allowed easy portability of some OpenGL titles as well.
• ARexx script language
  • Automate and integrate functionality between applications.
  • Extreme interoperational capabilities between software.
• Responsiveness
  • The Amiga OS kernel is extremely lightweight and efficient.
  • Very fast inter-process communications and context switching.
  • Fully pre-emptive multitasking scheduler that ensures important tasks will get a fair share of processing time
  • Clever task scheduling makes OS feel fast and responsive.
• Icon handling
  • Files can have a default icon representing the type of file or a custom icon specific to the individual file.
  • Supports a variety of iconformats.
• Understandable file structure
  • OS files are divided up into clearly labelled drawers so you know exactly where to find whatever you're looking for.

Another screenshot of the magnificent AmigaOS:

More features:

• RAM disk
  • Virtual HD that stores files and data in memory rather than on your actual hard drive.
  • The RAM drive takes up only as much of your memory as it needs to.
  • Very fast to access (read/write).
  • Can be used to temporarily store files.
  • Cleared after a reboot so you won't be cluttering up your computer with unused files.
• Scalability
  • OS4 is l ean, mean and efficient enough to run on the kind of hardware that these days you would expect to find in a PDA or advanced smartphone.
  • Fully featured OS that can run high-end desktop or server applications.
• XAD
  • XAD provides a common library interface for archive files such as ZIP, LHA and TAR.
  • By accessing the XAD library interface, any application can transparently read the contents of any archive in any format handled by XAD.
• The Grim Reaper
  • AmigaOS4.0 has added the Grim Reaper, a smart crash handling system that will catch those "guru" errors and stop them getting out of control.
  • It also provides information about what went wrong which is usefull for developers.
• Customisable GUI
  • The ReAction GUI system is highly configurable, allowing you to create your own look for your computer, or use one someone else has created.
  • Allows you to replace window gadgets, apply gradients or textures of your choice to most elements in the interface.
• Locale
  • Change the OS language on the fly, no need for a reboot.
  • With catalogs you can change language files for applications as well.
• Better drive labels
  • Each device/driver/folder can be given a name (or several names).
  Add an unlimited amount of drives. (Windows is limited to the letters A-Z)
• The Shell
  • Environment for accessing your system through text commands.
  • Allows drag and drop of files and folders onto the Shell window
• Save / Use / Cancel
  • Select "Use" in your applications to use the configuration temporarily.
  • If you select "Use", only the RAM drive config files are changed, and after a reboot you will have your old settings back.
• Dock menu
  • AmiDock is a fully configurable docking bar for icons, allowing quick access to your most used applications, wherever they are.
  • These dock bar icons are fully dynamic, which means they can show real-time content and act as useful micro tool