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Commodore 64 operating system

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing September 14, 2017September 12, 20171980s, apple, apple ii, commodore, commodore 64, unix

The Commodore 64 didn’t have an operating system in the traditional sense that we now think of one. It most certainly did have a method of interacting with the user and handling I/O, including disk files. But the way it all worked seems strange today. Here’s what made the native Commodore 64 operating system different, and the alternatives that surfaced during the 64’s long life.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Why did IBM fail at PCs?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing July 3, 2017October 4, 20211980s, 1990s, acer, AIX, apple, compaq, datacenter, dell, hp, IBM, intel, lenovo, mainframe, Packard Bell, Personal Computer, proprietary unix, thinkpad, unix, VHS, XT

If you ask why did IBM fail, I assume you mean why did IBM ultimately fail in the personal computer market. IBM is still in business, after all. But its exit from the PC market after 24 years, including a period of dominance in the 1980s, does seem curious. And it raises another question: What does IBM do now?

I experienced IBM’s fall in this market firsthand. I sold computers at retail in 1994 and 1995. IBM’s computers at that time were no worse than anyone else’s, but I had an extremely difficult time selling them. Many consumers didn’t trust IBM and didn’t want to get somehow locked in. There was nothing wrong with those machines, but it sure was a lot easier to just sell them a Compaq.

Dave Farquhar

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Advantages and disadvantages of Windows NT 3.1

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing May 18, 2017April 7, 20251990s, AIX, amiga, apple, best buy, DEC, hp, IBM, intel, linksys, motorola, Orange Book, proprietary unix, unix, windows nt, Windows XP, wrt54g, x86

I’ve talked a lot about the advantages and disadvantages of old milestone operating systems. But what were the advantages and disadvantages of Windows NT 3.1? That’s a fair question.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 vs Amiga

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 3, 2017September 6, 20181980s, 1990s, 6502, amiga, amiga os, atari, atari st, commodore, commodore 64, compaq, hp, intel, kmart, motorola, Packard Bell, Personal Computer, unix, XT

Looking at the Commodore 64 vs Amiga seems a little odd, at least to me. After all, the machines were never intended to be rivals. The Amiga was supposed to succeed the 64. Commodore bought Amiga because they couldn’t make a 64 successor on their own, so they intended for the Amiga to replace it. It didn’t fully succeed, and maybe that’s why the comparison is still interesting.

Looking back, the machines may seem similar today. But in 1985 they sure didn’t.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 commands

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing October 4, 2016July 11, 2018cmd, commodore, commodore 64, unix

People frequently ask me for a list of common or useful Commodore 64 commands, including disk drive commands. Since the C-64’s built in operating system is more of a combination command line/Basic interpreter, it takes some getting used to if you didn’t grow up with it.

These commands assume a stock, unmodified C-64, freshly powered on. Many fast-load cartridges, ROM replacements, or so-called DOS wedge programs include shortcuts for these commands. But these commands work on any C-64 with a disk drive, modified or stock.

Dave Farquhar

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Common AmigaDOS commands

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 16, 2016June 28, 2019amiga, cmd, commodore, Digital Equipment Corporation, ramdisk, TEMP, TMP, unix, unix commands

The Amiga had a command line, or CLI. It was a rather powerful CLI, especially for its time. But there are a number of differences between AmigaDOS and other operating systems you may be familiar with. These are the common AmigaDOS commands and their equivalents from other operating systems like DOS, Windows, Unix or Linux.

I’ve never seen a primer that relates or cross-references Amiga commands to Windows and Unix. So I wrote one. I hope it helps you understand your Amiga better. Because Amiga is sometimes like Windows and sometimes it’s like Unix, I think it might. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn something you didn’t know about Windows or Unix too.

Dave Farquhar

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Origin of CP/M’s PIP command

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 8, 2016November 26, 2018command prompt, commodore, commodore 128, DEC, Digital Equipment Corporation, Gary Kildall, PIP, syntax, unix

CP/M was, as you probably know, the first popular microcomputer operating system. It was good but imperfect, and its cryptic command for copying files, PIP, is often cited as an example. Copy makes sense. Even the Unix equivalent, cp, makes sense–it’s copy without the vowels. But what does PIP mean? What’s the origin of CP/M’s PIP command?

Dave Farquhar

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Find PHP malware in Linux

Dave Farquhar security April 12, 2016October 15, 2023ASCII, malware, PHP, unix

A lot of people seem to be looking for help cleaning up hacked or infected web sites lately, so here’s a trick I used in the past to find PHP malware in Linux and clean up the infected files.

Dave Farquhar

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Tricks for giving presentations at work

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized May 5, 2015May 2, 20151990s, journalism, unix

One of my peers–he does exactly what I do at work, but for Unix machines while I cover Windows–asked me for some tips for giving presentations after he gave a presentation last week. I’ve presented a couple of times myself, and from the feedback I received, I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself, so he asked for my feedback.

I gave him a few tips that have served me well over the years.

Dave Farquhar

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Lenovo’s preinstalled Superfish spyware: A post-mortem

Dave Farquhar security February 20, 2015November 3, 2025CISO, lenovo, Packard Bell, PR, spyware, unix

So, if you haven’t heard by now, last year Lenovo experimented with preloading its cheapest laptops with spyware that subverts HTTPS, allowing a third party to inject ads on any web page, and providing a convenient place for an attacker to hide behind while messing with your secure transactions.

By the end of the day yesterday, Lenovo had apologized, sort of, and after several sites had provided removal instructions, Lenovo provided its own. After spending much of the day downplaying the security concerns, by the end of the day they were at least reluctantly acknowledging them.

This was really bad, and I’ll explain why in a second, and I’ll also try to explain why Lenovo did it.

Dave Farquhar

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