An Amiga heart, an apple skin.
PomAROS is AROS for the Mac with Apple Silicon. It is made by one developer and a handful of tools, in the open, and gives back to AROS whatever it can.
What is AROS?
AROS is a free and portable operating system that implements the AmigaOS 3.1 programming interfaces. Programs written for that interface can be rebuilt for AROS, and the desktop, the Shell and the system libraries will feel familiar to anyone who used an Amiga.
It is small enough to understand, quick to start, and runs on many kinds of computers. It is developed by the AROS project under the AROS Public License.
What does PomAROS add?
PomAROS builds AROS for 64-bit ARM and packages it for Apple Silicon Macs in four ways: Hosted, VM, QEMU, and native.
The first three run on top of macOS and are available today. Native PomAROS runs directly on the hardware, with its own drivers for the M1's display, keyboard, trackpad, storage, Wi-Fi, GPU and power management.
All four share one AROS core. Fixes made for one port reach the others, and general improvements are offered to the AROS project.
How does AROS start on an M1?
Apple Silicon Macs can start an operating system other than macOS from a separate container on the internal SSD, selected in the startup options. Native PomAROS uses the same chain as Asahi Linux: Apple's boot loader starts m1n1, which prepares the hardware description, then U-Boot, which starts the AROS kernel.
macOS stays installed and untouched next to it. Holding the power button at startup chooses between the two.
None of this would exist without the hardware research of the Asahi Linux project, whose documentation and boot tools PomAROS relies on.
Frequently asked.
Is PomAROS free?
Yes. AROS is free software, and the PomAROS tools are open source under the MIT license.
Which Macs does it run on?
Hosted, VM and QEMU run on any Mac with Apple Silicon; see each port for the macOS version it needs. Native PomAROS starts with the MacBook Air M1 (2020), the machine it is developed on. Other models come later, one at a time, once they are tested.
Will native PomAROS erase macOS?
No. It installs next to macOS in its own partitions, in the space macOS leaves free. macOS stays the way it was, and you choose which system to start.
Can I run Amiga software?
Software written for the AmigaOS programming interfaces can be rebuilt for AROS, and many programs already have been. Original 68k Amiga programs need an emulator such as UAE.
When can I install native PomAROS?
It is being tested by a small group first, and will open to more people when installing it is safe for someone who has never seen it. The news page and its feed will say when.
Where do I report a problem?
In the issues of the repository of the port you use, on GitHub, or through the contact form.
Who makes PomAROS?
John Knipper, building on the work of the AROS developers and of the Asahi Linux project.