CommodoreCommodoreThe very first computer of our family was a second-hand Commodore 64
connected to a black&white telly. It's only equipment was a
datasette
to load programmes onto the C64. A few days after, I got my first book
about 'BASIC' from my uncle. The adventure of programming begun. Programming
in BASIC was quite easy although I never tried to program in assembler
on a C64.The only game we own was Jupiter Lander which could be connected
to the game port of the C64. But I never really liked to use the C64 for
games. I much more preferred programming. After about two years I gave
the commie away to a friend because of a defect I could not repair at that
time.
After that I became a Commodore PET which already was old-fashioned
at that time. I liked this computer very much with its built in little
monochrome monitor and the black keyboard. At hat time I learned to control
the ports of it which gave me a new motivation in programming, so I spent
a lot of time using my PET.
Now I own a C64 again although I tend to use the C64 emulator more
than the real one.
to be done...
This was the first computer from Commodore introduced in 1981. The VIC20 got its name from the video chip and the ROM size. It was very cheap and "a computer for the masses, not for the classes. Because this computer was so famous, commodore was selling despite the C64 was already on market!
In 1982, Commodore introduced probably the most succesful homecomputer
of the world - the C64 or also called breadbox by its users. Over 10 millions
of this computer werde selled. With its famous soundchip called SID, breadbox
was better than most of the competitive computeres of that time.
In 1986, Commodore introduced the C64C with a new design and a graphical
operating system called GEOS which could be loaded from a floppy disk.
In 1987 they introduced the C64G with the old design again and a joystick
in addition but without GEOS.
If you would like to know more about the C64, programming and repairing
go to the PROJECT 64 homepage
In 1985 Commodore managed to combine 3 computers in one:
C64 and VIC compatible
C128 with BASIC 7.0 from MicroSoft
CP/M mode
The C128 can be switched from 2 MHz to 1 MHz to be
compatible with older software. Because of a mounted Z80
processor it was capable to run CP/M and could be used as
a personal computer.
The following commands and variables are available for C64 BASIC:
(Click on the commands to learn more about it)
| ABS | FRE | NEXT | SAVE |
| AND | GET | NOT | SGN |
| ASC | GET# | ON | SIN |
| ATN | GOSUB | OPEN | SPC | CHR$ | GOTO | OR | SQR | CLOSE | IF ... THEN | PEEK | STOP | CLR | INPUT | POKE | STR$ |
| CMD | INPUT# | POS | SYS | CONT | INT | TAB |
| COS | LEFT$ | PRINT# | TAN |
| DATA | LEN | READ | TI |
| DEF FN | LET | REM | TI$ | DIM | LIST | RESTORE | USR |
| END | LOAD | RETURN | VAL |
| EXP | LOG | RIGHT$ | VERIFY |
| FN | MID$ | RND | WAIT |
| FOR ... TO ... STEP | NEW | RUN |
It looks like the C128 has already got a BASIC from Microsoft!
This is a graphical operating system for the C64C. I just found out that it was ported to DOS and is still supported and sold by Berkeley Softworks. It looks quite nice and is very powerful.
This operating system is written by André Fachat in1989 for all 6502 based computers. It is multitasking capable and includes some Unix-like features incusive virtual consoles. Unfortunately, I was not able to run it on my C64 Emulator - it causes a reset and I still don't know why! I am working on...
LUnix (little Unix) is a newer operating system from
Daniel
Dallmann in 1994 with a simple but real multitasking and (!) terminal
support. I have first seen it running in my C64 Emulator (VICE) and it
really looks promising.
LUnix Homepage
