Oasys

Oasys is a concept operating system developed by Fleecy Moss whilst he was still working at Amiga Inc to discuss what the new Amiga OS should be like. It was developed by for members of the ICOA (Industry Council Open Amiga), and various other groups to indicate how future systems could be developed for the future needs of the user. The name is a pun on the British band, Oasis, coined by Steve Bowie, short for Open Amiga operating SYStem. Until the official role of the OS is determined by Amiga Inc, Oasys is an effort to set the user free of the restrictions imposed by current thinking and embrace a more advanced concept, just as the AmigaOS was 10 years ahead of its time. Fleecy Moss draws from the example of the Amiga considerably in his new concept indicating that future systems designed for the new markets should be elegant, open ended, and yet simple to use.

Oasys attempts to correct a number of the failings that have led to the AmigaOS' sidelining, particularly its dependence on custom hardware. Under Oasys the underlying hardware does not matter, as it is independent of specific implementations such as the Amiga custom chips or the Intel x86 processor. Whilst it does not rely on these systems to run it can utilize them if the need arises. This is based upon a division between the Hardware Services Manager, an intelligent BIOS replacement that manages all hardware support and the Amiverse, the core of the OS that runs alongside the HSM allowing easy access to these components, through soft-links into the HSM. The intercommunication of the OS and its modules, using the Oasys concept, should be handled in a logical fashion drawing on both ecological and biological influences. This offers a considerable simplification of computer concepts. Over the last 50 years computers have required the user to think using mechanistic logic around a problem. If the Oasys concept is to be accepted, its supporters claim there should be a move to a more biological, simpler interpretation of the computer system. Networking would be greatly simplified through a series of intelligent agents that create new methods of communication, in a similar fashion to the brain. A simple script driven interface, similar in style to Carl Sassenraths' Rebol language, could perform common actions. Commands would be in plain English (or whatever language you use) rather than computer jargon.

In contrast to recent developments by Microsoft to incorporate applications into the operating system, Oasys attempts to separate these further into a series of components according to those required for the task. This is a line that has played an important part in the search for a new Kernel to base the AmigaOS around. The current QNX Neutrino will allow users to scale their system from handheld devices to huge workstations. The de-mechanization process of referring to these components has amplified the naturalistic approach to computing, rather than being referred to as libraries or applications, Oasys uses a term of creating new "personalities" that mesh together to perform the task required.

Under Oasys, the operating system remains abstract of the hardware restrictions through use of a Hardware Services Manager that allows applications to access available hardware. This is intelligently configured every time the system boots allowing the ability to Plug and Play on a level that Bill Gates can only dream of. The "portfolio" created would vary according to the hardware it found in the box and allow access to extensions to the system, such as multi-processors, accessing printers across the internet, or any other function in a transparent manner without patching the OS.