33-year-old AmigaOS for Commodore computers gets an unexpected update

Work continues on AmigaOS 3.2 with the stewards of this classic Motorola 680x0 friendly operating system, Hyperion Entertainment, releasing version 3.2.3 a few days ago. In a news bulletin on the official site, Hyperion highlighted that the third update for AmigaOS 3.2 includes two years of (more than 50) fixes and enhancements.

It is somewhat remarkable that work on AmigaOS 3.X continues in 2025, given that Commodore International released AmigaOS 3.0 in 1992 with the Commodore Amiga 1200, followed by 3.1 with the launch of the Amiga CD32 in 1993. Hyperion began its quest to modernize and improve this classic version of AmigaOS for Motorola 680x0 platforms in 2018 when it released version 3.1.4. The AmigaOS 3.2 lineage began in 2021.

Highlighted updates in AmigaOS 3.2.3 include:

• ReAction classes have received numerous updates. ReAction is the newest OS’s object-orientated widget toolkit engine. Originally a third-party enhancement, it is now the recommended toolkit for GUI programming under AmigaOS.
• TextEditor now allows users to define a custom menu with macros.
• 12KB of chip RAM is no longer reserved
• A new Kickstart 3.2.3 ROM is available.
• At least 50 other fixes, including updates to DiskDoctor and HDToolbox.

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What about AmigaOS 4.X?

Commodore’s demise came in 1994, and this is why the development of the AmigaOS became fragmented and sporadic from that time, with licensing changing hands and no clear hardware platform to drive it forward.

1994 is the same year that Apple began its switch from the 68K to PowerPC architecture, so Amigans living through this difficult time naturally envisioned PowerPC would be the right direction for advanced AmigaOS development. Thus, you will find various AmigaOS 4.X releases - which aren’t ‘newer’ than 3.X releases - they are simply versions dedicated to the PowerPC platform.

There also exist branches of AmigaOS style and compatible OSes such as MorphOS (PowerPC again) and AROS (x86, PowerPC, Arm). These will take you even further from the classic home computer platform (and apps, games) most of you will be familiar with from the late 1980s and early 90s.

Getting and using AmigaOS 3.2

This release is provided as a free update to owners of AmigaOS 3.2. If you don’t already have this OS, you can get it now at official resellers like RetroPassion UK. Though it works with ROMs as old as Kickstart 3.1, it is recommended you also upgrade your ROMs to 3.2.3.

Nowadays, Arm-based accelerators seem to be the path forward for modern Amiga, as opposed to retro Amiga, enthusiasts. AmigaOS 3.2.3 has a feather in its cap as it also supports classic 68K Amigas boosted by Arm accelerators such as the PiStorm. However, even the most basic A500 with lowly MC68000 is capable of being updated to run this OS.

‘New’ Amiga hardware

Retrogames previouosly talked of a “new full size Amiga console launched” in Q4 2024. That time has come and gone, and we have seen murmurings about disputes regarding the software/OS side of the package.

Hyperion’s new management (December 2024) denies it has anything to do with this delay, insisting that Retrogames hasn’t reached out to them yet, but it is “happy to start discussions.”