AROS x86 - July 2025

For AROS developers, summer is a time of relaxation among palm trees, hot sand, and… beautiful commits. Even while enjoying their well-deserved vacations, they still manage to sneak in time for some coding. So what did July bring us?

Nick Kalamatee Andrews, as always, has been far from idle. He introduced a whole range of improvements across various parts of the system — from the build system and C library, to datatypes and drivers. The list of changes is truly impressive, so if you’re curious about the details, feel free to check out the full changelog on GitHub.

One of his latest projects is QuickPart, a brand new disk partitioning tool. While currently in read-only mode — allowing users to inspect existing partitions — it already shows great promise as a modern and practical utility.

AROS Quick Part

Another exciting update is the beginning of work on an SDL2 port for AROS. Until now, SDL 1.2 has served us well, but it’s showing its age — and AROS has been lagging behind in this area. Migrating to SDL2 opens the door to a whole new range of game and application ports. Fun times ahead, especially for developers! You can already test early versions (although OpenGL support is not yet implemented).

If you’d like to support Kalamatee’s work, consider sponsoring him on GitHub:

https://www.youtube.com/@Kalamatee

Krzysztof Deadwood Śmiechowicz, aside from his ongoing work on the new version of the Odyssey web browser, has embarked on another ambitious endeavor — porting a classic Amiga emulator to 64-bit AROS. The project is still in its early stages, but it’s expected to be based on the Amiberry source code.

AROS Amiberry

As he does every quarter, Deadwood has published an updated roadmap for 64-bit AROS development, which you can read in full here. The short-term strategy is focused on three main areas:

1. Odyssey browser – The goal is to bring it up to speed with modern online services, allowing stable and fast use of web-based replacements for missing native software.

2. Software availability – Through recompilation or emulation, essential functionality will be added. The objective isn’t to port all 32-bit apps, but to ensure at least one reliable tool in each software category.

3. Hardware support – Currently, 64-bit AROS lacks support for some hardware that’s functional under 32-bit (e.g., NVidia cards). The aim is to restore that support and expand compatibility with newer, second-hand hardware that’s easy to find.

Neil Cafferkey updated several network drivers to work on the 64-bit system, including intelpro100, nvidianet, prism2, realtek8180, rtl8029, and etherlink3. He also introduced a general improvement to the AROSTCP network stack.

Timothy Terminills Deters has announced plans to release his own 64-bit AROS distribution (ABIv1). One of its highlights will be the inclusion of a full version of FinalWriter. The name of the new distro hasn’t been revealed yet — we’re looking forward to more news on this!

Amigamia, the administrator of AROSWorld, has restored backup copies of archived AROS discussion forums. These are a real treasure trove — great for both reminiscing about the community’s past and discovering still-relevant technical knowledge.

Archived forums (read-only):

• aros-exec.arosworld.org
• ae.arosworld.org

For current discussions, remember to visit the active AROS forum at: www.arosworld.org — everyone is welcome!

The summer break is especially noticeable on AROS Archives, where the number of new uploads is so small, you could count them on one hand. But let’s stay optimistic — next month, we’ll likely see a strong comeback :)