Let’s talk about PETSCII and ASCII, what they are and how to convert between them properly and losslessly. There are some examples on the internet that are not right, and there are some nuances that make it more complicated than it seems at first glance. ASCII was developed to standardize the codes...

   This post is basically a white paper, but it’s in a non-formal blog post style. I’ve been working on a new Application for C64 OS that makes use of networking. I’ve got a long list of Apps and Utilities that I’d love to have on the platform, but I have to prioritize the one I think will be most...

   Back in 1986, Berkeley Softworks released the first version of GEOS v1.0 for the Commodore 64. At that time the 1541 disk drive reigned supreme as the storage device for the C64. The 1571 was released the year before GEOS, but the 1541 was and forever remained far more popular. The 1541 and 1571...

   This is my first blog post of 2025. It’s been a while, but I assure you, lots of stuff has been happening The Whats New page has been around since C64 OS v1.04 was released in June of 2023. The Whats New page has taken the place of blog posts for stuff that’s just news. What I’m doing right now,...

   I haven’t blogged about World of Commodore since 2019. Now, to be fair, we did have a worldwide pandemic between then and now. In 2020 there was no in-person event. Maybe it happened online, but I didn’t participate. In 2021 World of Commodore happened again in the flesh, but we were all masked up....

   C64 OS v1.07 is currently in beta testing. It will hopefully be released soon, and is another free system update to all licensed users of Version 1.0 and up. A whole pile of cool new things are coming in v1.07. However, today I wanted to talk about something a little less well known, but...

   For the last few months I have been super hard at work on the next major update to C64 OS, version 1.07. It will be released as a free update to all licensed users of C64 OS v1.x, and will be made available for download from the C64 OS System Updates page. The big new technology coming to C64 OS is...

   I haven’t done a hardware review in a while, but I have acquired a few new pieces of hardware to test with C64 OS for compatibility. Today we’re going to talk about the RAD RaspberryPi-based REU cartridge for the C64. Before we get into that, a couple of very brief updates about C64 OS and c64os...

   Here is a blog post about some general programming theory and practice on the C64, that I personally find useful and hopefully you’ll find it useful too. I recently updated a tool that I use to help me with C64 OS development from being written in BASIC to being written as a hybrid of BASIC and...

   The news is that C64 OS version 1.06 has just been released, March 22, 2024. I’m happy to get that out the door, as it frees up my mind to start working on important new cornerstone technologies coming to C64 OS. I’ll start dropping hints about that in the coming weeks. Version 1.06 is a more...

   I’m super busy, so I’m going to have to keep this blog post short. First a couple of updates. I had a great time at World of Commodore in December 2023. I had a nice vendor table there, I think it was the nicest I’ve ever put together. The top image is how I imagined it, when I set it up on my...

   Hi everyone. I know it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, but I have been super busy working on new C64 OS code and documentation. A quick update on the documentation. I’ve been working on the Programmer’s Guide, where I have completed Chapter 4: Using the KERNAL. It is an overview and...

   The free software update v1.04 of C64 OS was released last month, June 2023. I like to give titles to the releases that capture the most important features of the release. I decided to call 1.04 the Multimedia Release. The reason for calling it a Multimedia release is because it has 4 main changes...

   Mounting and mouse wheel? What the heck have those two things got to do with each other? Well, they’re two new features available in the most recent update to C64 OS, version 1.03. If you purchased a copy of C64 OS, either the Starter Bundle or the Standard Bundle, then you are a version 1.X...

   Happy New Year Commodore 64 lovers, welcome to 2023. C64 OS is selling well. I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m currently restocking for the 4th stock run and hope to be back ready to take orders again around the end of January. Lots of stuff is going on. We’re just doing some beta testing on the...

   To all C64 fans and most especially to the people who had gotten used to reading my blog posts and getting news and updates on my progress, it is an exciting time. C64 OS version 1.0 has been released and is available for order. Although it seemed quiet, on the blog, here at C64os.com for ’lo these...

   Hello folks and welcome back to another blog post on C64 OS. I’ve got so much to talk about, and no time to talk about it. How about the elephant in the room first? It’s May of 2022, and I haven’t made a blog post since December of 2021. What’s more, I said the next blog posted would be the follow...

   I wrote the first two posts in a 3-part series about the VIC-II and FLI Timing (Part I and Part II,) but I have a lot to say about things I’m working on presently, and I don’t want to miss the moment to talk about them while they’re fresh in my mind. We’ll return to Part III of the VIC-II and FLI...

   This post is part 2 of a 3 part series. If you haven’t read Part 1: Memory Access yet, I’d recommend starting there first. I like to start with a few updates on the progress of C64 OS. If you’re not interested in the updates, you can skip to the the main topic. Update on C64 OS TKInput Class, File...

   A few updates first, I’ll try to keep these brief. Update on IP Thief (BASIC RPG Maze Game) I’ve finished: the introduction screen, the game mechanics for movement between the rooms, collecting items in inventory, points, combat against monsters, and changing levels. I’ve got a level menu screen,...

   Let’s begin with a fun update on something I’ve been working on. It’s summertime, and I wanted my son to have a project. I’ve tried introducing him to programming, on the C64 in BASIC, but he’s a bit young still to really grasp the important concepts. He loves games though; he likes card games like...

   Welcome back Commodore 64 fans and users. As discussed in the previous weblog post Updates on C64 OS, Beta 0.5, I have been working on a new a piece called, An Afterlife User’s Guide to the C64. That guide is finished and online, along with several other updates to the C64os section of the site. I...

   Well, time is ticking along at an extraordinary pace. Ontario, Canada, where I am from is in full lockdown again, now into the start of the second year of COVID-19. Both my kids and my wife are all home, and I have been working from home since around this time, 13 months ago. But it’s not a bad...

   Before we get started on the topic of shared libraries, I wanted to draw attention to a recent update to the Commodore 8-Bit Buyer’s Guide. For the last couple of months, I’ve been scouring the web and reaching out to creators and vendors, collecting links, prices and photos of new products that...

   File Management is considered to be one of the most central parts of an operating system. In Command Line Interfaces, such as a Unix Linux or the AmigaDOS Shell, you are in a current working directory. Commands interact with the file system relative to where you are. In macOS, the Finder is where...

   Welcome to 2021, let’s hope it turns out better than 2020. In August of last year which feels literally like yesterday I published a weblog post about Playing Back PCM Audio on our beloved brown friend, the Commodore 64. I wrote that in response to an email exchange. I thought a blog post made more...

   A quick update, I am working on Beta 0.5 of C64 OS. Everyone is waiting for the File Manager to be ready. Or, if not ready, at least to have something to see and try. C64 OS at its heart is a set of reusable resources that are designed to work together. The ideal is that an application is not...

   I am writing about a drive technology that was released in 1982, but whose essential origins stretch back into the decade before that, let’s call it 40 years old. And I’m writing this just a few nights after watching Apple’s 2020 iPhone 12 media event. This year, as every year, this new iPhone is...

   Originally I thought I’d pack this into one post. I decided to split it into two so we could get into some details about the power up process both in hardware and software, and then have room in this post to get into the details about how to deal with the variations and complexities that have crept...

   I’d originally planned this discussion to be a single post. But it turns out there was a lot to talk about, so I’ve split it into two parts. This is the first part which talks about what technically goes on when the computer is powered up or restarted, and how programs get loaded into memory and...