AMSDOS is a
disk operating system for the
8-bit
In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data buses ...
Amstrad CPC Computer (and various clones). The name is a contraction of Amstrad Disk
Operating System.
AMSDOS first appeared in 1984 on the CPC 464, with added
3 inch disk drive, and then on the CPC 664 and CPC 6128. Relatively fast and efficient for its time, AMSDOS was quicker and more effective than most of its contemporaries.
AMSDOS was provided built into ROM (either supplied with the external disk drive or in the machine ROM, depending on model) and was accessible through the built-in
Locomotive BASIC as well as through
firmware
In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
routines. Its main function was to map the
cassette access routines (which were built into every CPC model) through to a disk drive. This enabled the majority of cassette-based programs to work with a disk drive with no modification. AMSDOS was able to support up to two connected disk drives.
Commands
AMDOS extends the AMSTRAD BASIC by the addition of a number of external
commands which are identified by a preceding
¦ (bar) symbol. The following is a list of external commands supported by AMSDOS.
AMSTRAD CPC664 User Instructions
/ref>
* ¦A
* ¦B
* ¦CPM
* ¦DIR
* ¦DISC
* ¦DISC.IN
* ¦DISC.OUT
* ¦DRIVE
* ¦ERA
* ¦REN
* ¦TAPE
* ¦TAPE.IN
* ¦TAPE.OUT
* ¦USER
Alternatives
Other disk operating systems for the Amstrad range included CP/M
CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/ 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. Initi ...
(which was also bundled with an external disk drive, or built-in on ROM depending on model), RAMDOS, which allowed the full (800K) capacity of single-density 3 ½" disks to be used providing a suitable drive was connected and SymbOS
SYmbiosis Multitasking Based Operating System (SymbOS) is a multitasking operating system for Zilog Z80-based 8-bit computer systems.
Contrary to early 8-bit operating systems it is based on a microkernel, which provides preemptive and priori ...
.
References
Amstrad CPC
Disk operating systems
1984 software
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