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AmigaOS

1985 → today · Independent

The operating system of Commodore's Amiga, launched in July 1985.1 It ran several programs at once,2 and is still sold as of November 2026.6

Info only Sources

Launched
23 July 1985, with the Amiga1
Made by
Commodore2
Desktop
Workbench, 640 × 200 dots in 4 colors2
Newest versions
AmigaOS 3.2 and 4.1, as of November 20266

A launch with Andy Warhol

Commodore launched the Amiga on 23 July 1985 at Lincoln Center in New York, as a "multi-media" computer for creative work.1 On stage, the artist Andy Warhol changed the colors of a digitized photo of the singer Debbie Harry.1 Three custom chips handled graphics, sound, and input and output, and colors came from a palette of 4,096.2 The Amiga cost $1,295, plus a monitor or TV set.2

A blue Workbench 1.0 screen. A white bar at the top reads 'Amiga Workbench. Version 1.0.' and the free memory. A window titled Workbench shows drawer icons for Demos, Utilities, System and Empty, a Clock, Preferences and an orange Trashcan. A floppy disk icon labelled Workbench sits at the top right, and a red mouse pointer is on the blue desktop.
Illustration · not a screenshot Our drawing of Workbench 1.0 with the Workbench disk window open. It used only four colors.2 The free-memory number in the top bar is our own example. See the real screen

Workbench: many programs at once

The desktop was called Workbench. Programs were tools, documents were projects, folders were drawers, and there was a trash can.2 Several programs could run at the same time in overlapping windows; the one you clicked received your typing.2 Carl Sassenrath designed this multitasking system.4 For typing commands, there was also a command line.3

Close-up of the Workbench window: a white title bar with a close box, the title Workbench, stripes and two depth boxes, a disk gauge from F to E on the left, and white icons on blue: the Demos, Utilities, System and Empty drawers, a Clock, Preferences and an orange Trashcan.
Illustration · not a screenshot Close-up of our drawing: inside the Workbench disk, drawers, two tools (Clock and Preferences) and the trash can. See the real screen

After Commodore

On 29 April 1994, Commodore said it was going out of business.5 AmigaOS lived on. As of November 2026, Hyperion Entertainment sells AmigaOS 3.2 for classic Amigas and AmigaOS 4.1 for machines such as the X5000. It says it is finishing versions 3.3 and 4.2.6

Close-up of the top right of the Workbench screen: the white top bar with two depth boxes at its right end, and below it a white floppy disk icon with an orange label, named Workbench, on the blue desktop.
Illustration · not a screenshot Close-up of our drawing: the Workbench disk on the desktop, and the screen's depth boxes at the top right. See the real screen

Key moments