User:Pavlor/sandbox2

AmigaOS 3 was released in 1992 for the Amiga computer by Commodore International. The third generation of Amiga operating system improved on its predecessor by supporting hardware features found in the Amiga's AGA chipset, released the same year. AmigaOS 3 was hampered by the 1994 bankruptcy of the parent company, but was eventually updated by Haage & Partner in 1999. It saw its last update in 2002, a decade after its initial release.

3.0
Release 3.0 (V39) was introduced in Autumn 1992 along with new generation of Amiga computers, Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000. Version 3.0 preceded 2.1 (intended for older OCS/ECS based machines) by a few months and both operating systems shared some features: e.g. dynamic localisation of programs to different languages, CrossDOS for easy file transfer between MS-DOS and Amiga systems, Postscript printer driver and support for the Motorola 68040 CPU. Two improvements for OS 3.0 were graphics support for AGA chipset with 256 colours, and the addition of a universal data system known as DataTypes. Using standard plugins, DataTypes allowed programs to load pictures, sound, text and other content from formats they didn't understand natively (see object-oriented operating system). Thanks to the improved graphics infrastructure and said DataTypes, users now could display backdrop pictures on their Workbench.

Main features:
 * Support for AGA chip set and improved graphics infrastructure
 * A revised Amiga Early Startup Control (boot menu) with disabling/enabling caches and compatibility settings
 * DataTypes, MultiView (picture, text and audio viewer)
 * Improved FastFileSystem with support for directory cache

3.1
Release 3.1 (V40) was first introduced with the Amiga CD32 in late 1993. Versions for other Amiga computers followed the next year. Besides correcting bugs of the previous release, OS 3.1 improved the graphics subsystem by adding support for chunky graphics, introduced new API for peripheral devices and included drivers for CD-ROM drives.

Main features:
 * Support for chunky graphics
 * API for peripheral devices (lowlevel.library)
 * Support for CD-ROM drives
 * Support for the CD32's chunky-to-planar chip (Akiko)
 * Addition of ANIM & CDXL datatypes (for video playback)

OS 3.1 was the first AmigaOS version marketed under "Amiga OS" name and the last version developed by Commodore. Although there was no major AmigaOS release until OS 3.5 in 1999, AmigaOS developement continued after Commodore at a slower pace. Improvements beyond OS 3.1 included support for hard drives larger than 4 GiB and an updated installation utility (Installer V43). The entire OS 3.1 source code was revised for more modern developer tools by Olaf Barthel. This created the basis for all future AmigaOS versions.

With official OS development effectively stalled, additional standards for graphics and audio cards were introduced by third parties and later adopted by AmigaOS itself.

3.5
The path for further development of Amiga Operating System was not easy. Amiga Inc. first announced AmigaOS 3.5 in 1997, then cancelled it in May 1998 at World of Amiga show before finally reconfirming work on OS 3.5 in October 1998 at the Midwest Amiga Expo. German company Haage & Partner was commissioned to lead work on this new OS version. Amiga OS 3.5 (V44) was released 18 October 1999 and introduced support for hard drives larger than 4 GiB, a new CD file system and improved visual appearance (GlowIcons, ReAction GUI). Support for PowerPC CPU cards was provided via WarpUP. Whereas all previous OS releases ran on Motorola 68000, this new version required a 68020 or better, CD-ROM, at least 4 MB of Fast RAM and Kickstart 3.1 as the operating system didn't include new ROM. OS 3.5 was first to be released on CD-ROM.

Main features:
 * Support for Hard disks >4GiB
 * Improved Graphical User Interface (ReAction GUI)
 * Extensive CD-ROM support
 * Improved printer support
 * PowerPC support (WarpUP)
 * TCP/IP stack (unregistered time-limited free MiamiDX demo)

Updates:

3.9
After Amino bought the Amiga rights from Gateway 2000, the newly formed Amiga Inc. announced that the next generation of Amiga Operating System would be based around multi platform technology from Tao Group. However, Amiga Inc. again commissioned Haage & Partner with further development of the classic OS: AmigaOS 3.9 (V45) was released in December 2000. New features included TCP/IP stack Genesis, Find utility for searching drives and AmiDock for quick launching of favourite programs. OS 3.9 also offered applications for video and audio playback, internet browsing and comprehensive unarchiving system (XAD) – mainly contributions of third party developers. As with previous release 3.5, AmigaOS 3.9 was a software update requiring Kickstart 3.1 ROM.

Main features:
 * Upgraded Workbench (AsyncWB since Boing-Bag #1)
 * New program start bar (AmiDock)
 * Automatic file type recognition (DefIcons)
 * Updated icon information window (RAWBInfo)
 * Find utility
 * New Shell (ViNCEd)
 * Universal Decruncher System (XAD)
 * Support for Zip and Jaz drives
 * Multimedia applications (AVI & Quicktime and MP3/WAV/AIFF players):
 * TCP/IP Stack (Genesis)

Updates:

Legacy
Twenty years after demise of Commodore, the Amiga intellectual property remains fractured: Cloanto holds copyright for works created until 1993, Hyperion Entertainment has exclusive licence to OS source code and some parts of OS versions 3.5 and 3.9 belong to Haage & Partner. Nevertheless, AmigaOS 3 remains popular enough to be still sold: Cloanto offers all AmigaOS versions (under the "Workbench" trademark) up to 3.1 and most of later 3.5/3.9 in its Amiga Forever emulation package, and also sells sets of 3.1 Kickstart ROMs and Workbench disks (with some improvements over plain OS 3.1) for actual Amiga computers. AmigaOS 3.1 Kickstart and floppy disk images are part of AmigaOS 4 since release 4.1 Update 4. AROS and MorphOS operating systems both implement the AmigaOS 3 API.