Bo Zimmerman has given GEOS/central permission to reprint this FAQ. We appreciate his cooperation.
"FAQ" stands for "Frequently Asked Questions", and is a document intended to satisfy numerous questions on a given topic. The aim is to avoid the need to answer those common questions when they are posted to Usenet or sent through email. This is accomplished by answering them thoroughly and completely in a single document, namely this FAQ.
This FAQ covers the Commodore version of an operating system called "GEOS" by Berkeley Softworks. In particular, this FAQ focuses on the Commodore 64 and 128 versions of this software. Although it is acknowledged that a version of GEOS was released for Apple II computers, and one has been ported for Commodore 264 series computers, this FAQ does not directly support those versions. However, that being said, it should be noted that much of the material in this document is relevant to users of those versions.
The Commodore GEOS FAQ is maintained by Bo Zimmerman. He can be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Numerous others have contributed to this effort, however. This includes James Hefner, Willis Patten, the inventor of the internet U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and many others.
For the time being, the ONLY place this FAQ can be found is:
www.zimmers.net/geos/GEOSFAQ.html
When it is considered to be in a more completed state, it will be posted and uploaded elsewhere, and this section will be updated to reflect that.
The Basics
GEOS, which stands for Graphical Environment Operating System, is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) operating system for Commodore 64, 128, Apple II, and 264 (64k) computers. It was developed in 1986 by Berkely Softworks as a point and click alternative for users of those popular home computers. It is now being sold and supported by Click Here Software.
The appeal of GEOS lies in its modern features, such as;
- The ability to cut-and-paste text, graphics, and other objects.
- Drag-and-drop file management such as copying, printing, and deleting.
- Support for numerous printers, input devices, and disk drives.
- Numerous point-and-click applications.
- An easy to use GUI interface.
- Support for memory expansion, process switching, and print spooling (in some versions).
Mattel, the toy company, was going great guns making video games. A young fellow named Brian Dougherty left Mattel and formed another Video Game company called Imagic. After some success Brian left Imagic and formed BSW to convert Video Games to work on Personal Computers.
One of the BSW Hardware Specialists, Dave Durran, spent time working on an In-Circuit Emulator to give software developers a faster development cycle. The ICE unit did not sell well.
BSW then paired up with a firm that made small batteries. The two companies began working on a product for the airlines called the Sky Tray. It was to be a battery powered computer with a liquid crystal display and membrane keyboard that fit in the seat trays. The Sky Tray was to be a 6502 based computer and BSW would develop the O.S. for it. The code was written for the GUI interface but then airline deregulation happened and all in-flight extras were trimmed to save weight and fuel - this included the airlines cutting plans for the Sky Tray.
Mr. Dougherty then noticed that he had an orphaned operating system for a 6502 based computer and there were a pile of Commodore 64's being sold every day without a GUI interface. With a small amount of modification to the Sky Tray code GEOS was born. GEOS was introduced in March of 1986 for the C-64. In 1987 GEOS was released for the C-128 and in 1988 a version for the Apple II computer was published. GEOS V2.0 for the C-64 was released in 1988 and GEOS 128 V2.0 was released in 1989.
