BaSYS (Base SYStem, formerly in ALL CAPS, now the a is lowercase) is an open source recreation of the first 6 major releases of classic MacOS, when the operating system was only known as System 1 System 2 System 3 System 4 System 5 and System 6
BaSYS is in early development and is still being planned out. It will be a series of 8/16 bit operating systems designed to imitate the versions of MacOS listed above. It is not yet functional.
The system will be 8 bit Greyscale for BaSYS 1 to 5. BaSYS 6 will have slight coloring to it with 16 bit color.
BaSYS is written in C, Pascal, and Assembly. The web demo was donated by @peterhil is written in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript (additionally, I made a TypeScript version out of the existing JavaScript)
All versions of BaSYS require 64-256 kilobytes of RAM (Recommended: 512 kilobytes to 4 megabytes) it is expected that you will run these in a virtual machine, or on a super old computer/Raspberry Pi Pico.
All original Classic MacOS fonts are supported, and are provided.
| Limit | BaSYS 1-5 | BaSYS 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Monochrome (2 colors) | 16 bit (65,535 colors) |
| RAM | Max: 4 Megabytes | Max: 4 megabytes |
| Disk space | Max: 256 megabytes | Max: 4 gigabytes |
| PowerPC x86 support | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Motorola 86000 support | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Intel x86 support (32 bit) | ❌ | ❌ |
| Intel x86 support (16 bit) | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Wi-Fi support | ❌ | ❌ |
| Bluetooth support | ❌ | ❌ |
| Ethernet support | ❌ | ❌ |
| CD Drive | Virtual only | Virtual only |
| DVD Drive | ❌ | ❌ |
| Blu-Ray drive | ❌ | ❌ |
Not all specs are currently listed.
Other feature details currently unavailable.
C is likely a very common language the original Apple System 1-6 operating systems, and is very useful in operating system development.
Pascal is one of the main program level languages originally used in early versions of Classic Mac OS. To imitate the experience, it is used here as well.
Assembly was one of the main machine languages used in Classic Mac OS. Right now, I am using standard assembly, but may support the Motorola 68K through virtual means in the future.
System 7 is too close to MacOS, so it is separate from the first 6 versions of BaSYS. System 7.5 is when the system was renamed to MacOS (which became known as Classic MacOS after the release of Mac OS X 10.0)
Right now, there really isn't too much of a difference between different versions of BaSYS. Version 6 is expected to support color, while the other 5 versions imitate the first 5 versions of Classic Mac OS, matching their features. This is mainly a legacy project, and it is designed to only be run in a virtual machine, or on a very low end computer. Again, the project is not yet functional.
For functionality (when that happens) BaSYS 1 will be the simplest, while BaSYS 6 will be the most advanced. You can then choose a version to use from the spectrum of 6, and choose what works for you.
Not everyone needs it, but if you want to explore legacy systems, or have an itch to see what older MacOS systems were like, you may want to run it in the WacOS ecosystem.
This is a guesthouse repository, and not a home repository, as development mainly stays on the main WacOS side. This is just the guesthouse that the project retreats to at times. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is the home repository. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is a guesthouse repository, and not a home repository, as development mainly stays on the main WacOS side. This is just the guesthouse that the project retreats to at times. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is the home repository. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is a guesthouse repository, and not a home repository, as development mainly stays on the main WacOS side. This is just the guesthouse that the project retreats to at times. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is the home repository. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is a guesthouse repository, and not a home repository, as development mainly stays on the main WacOS side. This is just the guesthouse that the project retreats to at times. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is the home repository. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is a guesthouse repository, and not a home repository, as development mainly stays on the main WacOS side. This is just the guesthouse that the project retreats to at times. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is the home repository. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is a guesthouse repository, and not a home repository, as development mainly stays on the main WacOS side. This is just the guesthouse that the project retreats to at times. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
This is the home repository. If you are already in this repository, the link is likely recursive, and will reload the page.
File type: Markdown document (*.md *.mkd *.mdown *.markdown)
File version: 3 (2022, Sunday, May 8th at 9:37 pm PST)
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Article language: English (US)
